Treatment keeps mentally disabled girl child sized.

[froggeh]

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6229799.stm


This is an interesting one. The parents have put their daughter through treatment to keep their severely mentally disabled daughter the size of a child.
They say it is to improve the quality of life as they will be able to do more for her.
Human rights groups in the UK have slammed it as abhorrent.

Not sure where I stand on this one which is unusual.
While I can see the parents point, it doesn't seem right to deny the girl the right to become an adult...

[colin1]

practically its probably sensible in this case, but i dont think its ethical, seems a bit sick

must be very hard to know you will have to look after a mentally disabled daughter for the rest of your life.

[Ste]

"Keeping her child-sized in order to give her a better life" sounds fair enough, but it also says she's got the mental ability of a three-month-old baby and can't walk or talk. It also goes on to say she "lacks the cognitive capacity to experience any sense of indignity".

Ermmm, give her a better life? Sorry, but she has no life, "her parents call her "Pillow Angel", because she does not move from wherever they put her, usually on a pillow". Sounds great.

So she's unable to do anything for herself, has very little conscious thought, and isn't going to mentally or physically grow up. So they're giving her a better life how? What exactly has she got to look foward to, ever?

Euthanasia anyone?

[colin1]

you wouldnt kill a 3 month old baby, so why kill her ? shes just gonna stay mentally like a 3 month old baby

this doesnt necessarily mean that she will suffer, or that she need to be killed

i know old people who have had strokes who have reduced abilities are allowed to die, but I dont think thats ethical either, even if it is convenient for the relatives

[Ste]

No, you wouldn't kill a three month old baby, but a three month old baby is only three months old for one month. She's going to stay mentally like a three month old baby, what quality of life does that give?

Old folks with reduced abilities are allowed to die, but she isn't old (still got a lifetime of nothing to look foward to, well, if she had enough conscious thought she'd be able to) and she doesn't have any abilities that could be reduced.

Euthanasia would be nicer than keeping her in care for her whole life unable to ever do anything for herself. Yes so we can keep people alive when they're not meant to be and/or keep them in a state (child size) that makes caring for them easier. Or, kill them.

I know what I'd want to happen if that was me or someone related...

[colin1]

having the brain of a 3 month old baby is not necessarily a horrible thing if you are used to it and people are nice to you

lots of people spend their whole lives in care, but i dont think they all want to die, and i dont want to have them all killed either

ok someone is less capable, but that doesnt mean they need to die

the only reason i can think of for killing someone who is gonna spend their life in care, is on cost grounds, and this kid has things paid for by her parents anyway.

Having said that, killing someone to save money, is pretty immoral even if its sensible in a world with limited resources for health care.

[froggeh]

[Ste]

[colin1]

ignorance is bliss

i think i was probably happiest when i was a baby judging by family photos

i was still quite cheery at 2 and 4

im a right miserable fucker these days

oh to be 2 again

[queen of string]

They're not just keeping her small though, they're keeping her as a child physically, they had her breasts removed and gave her a hysterectomy, apparently to prevent sexual abuse. 1) you can still abuse her, womb or not. 2) they are her only carers and she needs constant attention, how's she gonna get abused ?. I could just about cope with the keeping her small so they can manage her care ( I didnt like it but I was coping). But to subject her to painful and risky major surgery because you dont want her to develop into a woman is unacceptable to me. I think you can have quality of life with severe learning disability but to say this is the parents' motivation is a lie. How much more likely is it that they want her to remain a child as they will then receive sympathy and support rather than the abhorrence people often feel at severely disabled adults. India Knight did a nice piece in the Times on Sunday if you're interested.
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[Annabella]

One of the reasons detailed as to why the parents chose to prevent her hitting puberty was to prevent her suffering period pains. Because she is unable to move herself, she would be unable to curl up/move to a more comfortable position. She would be in a huge amount of pain that she would have no comprehension of, nor any way to reduce it.

Whilst her parents are her sole carers at the moment, Ashley is completely healthy in every way besides the development of her brain and as such has a predicted lifespan that will reach past that of her parents. They were concerned that her being a feminine woman would sexualise her to those caring for her. Also, large breasts run in the family and they were worried that they would become a hindrance and a discomfort to her.


I couldn't have made the decisions they did, but they have their reasons and believe strongly that they are doing the right thing for their daughter. There is a discussion on the Independent website that has a lot of comments from parents of disabled children who have grown too large for them to handle, and how they wish this treatment had been made available to them to allow them to continue caring for their own child.
All very interesting.
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[akaDAVE]

It's a very tricky predicament and one that I'm sure is hard to appreciate fully if we aren't in it ourselves.

As an 'only in America' style news paper headline it does sound shocking, but after thinking about it, maybe the parents are just taking brave and practical steps to address and manage what is going to be a very difficult life for them and thier child.
I doubt it's an easy decision for them to take.

They have obviously decided they don't want her to be 'put down'.
A lot of people would shy away from anything like this. It would be wrong to point these people out as being selfish in any way. It is just a tragic situation that has thrown up some drastic solutions. We have the technology and science these days to keep people alive and we should have the balls to use it for practical real life purposes for the parents and the child when it's needed.
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[froggeh]

I think I have come to the conclusion that this is misguided. It is wrong, but with good intent. I feel really sorry for the poor folk.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

I think humans play god too much. We have to question would she even be here if it wasn't for wonder drugs.

If we lived in the wild she would die. Simple. Not saying it's the right thing to do, but just my opinion.
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