Saturday, August 25, 2007

Term 3 Week 9 Task 4

Commentary on blog winner: Giving Birth to Your Sister - Right or Wrong? - Jeremy Su
Source from : http://www.acidic-fiery-salamander.blogspot.com/



The article was first published in Straits Times on 11 July 2007. It is about a 35 year old Canadian mother who has decided to freeze her eggs so that her seven year old daughter, Flavie, who suffers from Turner's syndrome, can one day be a mother through pregnancy.

7 year-old Flavie is suffering from the rare Turner’s syndrome which is a genetic disorder that affects a girl's development. The cause is a missing or incomplete X chromosome. Girls who have it are short, and their ovaries don't work properly – mostly infertile. Put it simply, they are not able to conceive and have children naturally. In concern about it, Ms Melanie Biovin, has decided to freeze her eggs as to give her daughter a chance in becoming a mother one day.

This, like what Jeremy Su has mentioned in his blog entry, brings about many ethical questions on motherhood and parenting. For example, would the child be considered as Flavie's daughter (or son) or her sibling? Biologically speaking, they should be siblings since they both come from the same woman’s eggs. However, when one gives birth to one's sibling, psychologically the relationship is mixed. I think that it will be an awkward situation for both Flavie and her “child” in the future. There would be no perfect answer to whether is the child her sibling or her child? It would be difficult to identify their true relationship.

In years to come, problems may also occur during parenting. What do you think the child will respond if he or she were to know that her mother is actually his or her sibling? When this happens, parenting would be hard for Flavie. For instance, her child may regard Flavie as his or her sibling rather than mother. Respect for the mum would lessen. The child will then tend not to be as obedient and think that Flavie has no right in controlling him or her. This will seriously mess up the family and rapture their bonds.

In addition, this would be a laughing stock when the child’s genetic mum becomes his or her grandma while the sister becomes the mother. What is the world becoming? It is, by and large, unethical. I know that there’s no ill intention for Ms Melanie Biovin to do this, her love and care for her daughter is noble and honourable. However, I think that she has expressed it in a wrong way. Personally, I think this would bring about inevitable problems between her daughter and the future child. This totally defeats the purpose of her act. Worst still, Flavie may even grow up hating her mum’s decision.


Frankly speaking, a woman is not categorized by whether is she able to bear a child. Thus, I think that Falvie should just accept the fact that she is unable to conceive and that there are many ways to shower her love for children apart from having her own.

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