Would you have a child if...?

[Droid101]

Okay, based on the responses to the Forced Sterilization thread and the "If Droid had his way..." thread, I'm making a poll.

If you had a condition where the following would be true for your offspring:

10% chance the child dies before age 5.
30% chance the child dies before age 10.
80% chance the child dies before age 20.
20% chance the child lives a long and healthy life (dies of natural causes well after 70).

Do you have children? Where do the percentages become blurry? If your kid would live to 30 would that be okay? 40?

Where do you draw the line with life-threatening genetic disorders?

[TiQuinn]

In that particular scenario, I probably wouldn't have children.

However that scenario is not very likely, nor is it that easily measured beforehand either.

[Droid101]

In that particular scenario, I probably wouldn't have children.

However that scenario is not very likely, nor is it that easily measured beforehand either.

I agree it's usually not that cut and dried. Just trying to see where people stand from a very high level. :)

[Varaj]

I recognize it isn't something I can answer until I'm in the situation.

[Xavier Lang]

Your forgetting some important things Droid.
If they are 80% likely to die by age 20, what is there quailty of life for those 19 or so years? If its 19 years of hellish pain and mental retardation, then no, most people are not going to have kids.

If the quality of life is average, then its a different answer for most. My grandmother was in pain the last 45 years of her life. She still enjoyed life, lived and laughed, despite the pain. She had been in pain over a decade when she met and fell in love with my grandfather. I know she wouldn't have traded that love away for pain relief. (They were happily married over a decade before my grandfather passed away.)

One of my good friends had a college buddy die at about 20. I don't think he would have traded away a good friend his entire childhood to spare himself the pain of losing him. I don't think his friend would have traded away the 20 years he did have for nothingness.

[Droid101]

Your forgetting some important things Droid.
If they are 80% likely to die by age 20, what is there quailty of life for those 19 or so years? If its 19 years of hellish pain and mental retardation, then no, most people are not going to have kids.

If the quality of life is average, then its a different answer for most. My grandmother was in pain the last 45 years of her life. She still enjoyed life, lived and laughed, despite the pain. She had been in pain over a decade when she met and fell in love with my grandfather. I know she wouldn't have traded that love away for pain relief. (They were happily married over a decade before my grandfather passed away.)

One of my good friends had a college buddy die at about 20. I don't think he would have traded away a good friend his entire childhood to spare himself the pain of losing him. I don't think his friend would have traded away the 20 years he did have for nothingness.
This is the type of response I was going for in my Forced Sterilization thread. Thinking about the situation hypothetically and providing examples. Thank you!!

[FeatsofClay]

My family produces healthy people all the time. Good, quality midwestern stock. Health problems ( aside form a touchy stomach and some prostate issues that seem rather benign) are rare until the 80's and quality fo life seems great.

I got fixed anyway.

Put that in your poll and smoke it. :)

[Droid101]

My family produces healthy people all the time. Good, quality midwestern stock. Health problems ( aside form a touchy stomach and some prostate issues that seem rather benign) are rare until the 80's and quality fo life seems great.

I got fixed anyway.

Put that in your poll and smoke it. :)

Hooray for reverse Darwinism! :D

[Martin]

I don't have children because my wife is not inclined towards having children, plain and simple. If she ever changes her mind, and I'm so inclined, we may have kids.

Everyone is going to die. A chance at life is still a chance and better than naught.

[Black Angel]

If they are 80% likely to die by age 20, what is there quailty of life for those 19 or so years? If its 19 years of hellish pain and mental retardation, then no, most people are not going to have kids.

If the quality of life is average, then its a different answer for most.

I have to agree with XL here, but it's also something I probably can't give a definitive answer to until I'm in that situation. I wouldn't want to bring a child into the world just for my own selfish reasons, so I would have to consider their quality of life and comfort.

[Vermicious Knid]

If I had a serious genetic condition and I HAD to have kids I'd just adopt. Or buy a cat.

[shabois]

I am about ready to have a child..well not me but my wife! I think you say fuck the precentages and have your child. Children have a deep impact on your life no matter how long they live. Doctors tell people all the time that they have a finite amount of time to live and they defy those odds all the time.

[Keeper of Secrets]

This is an extremely depressing topic, Droid.

[Droid101]

This is an extremely depressing topic, Droid.

It'll probably make you feel better that there's probably nothing out there that fits the criteria I made up.

[Varaj]

It'll probably make you feel better that there's probably nothing out there that fits the criteria I made up.

Lots of stuff comes pretty close. Hell just look at Cystic Fibrosis. Lots of stuff is even worse such as Harlequin type ichthyosis.

[Limper]

If it were that bad I wouldn't have kids.

Hell given my respitory issues and familial heart related issues I was extremely hesitant about having the one we did.

[strawberry]

If I had a serious genetic condition and I HAD to have kids I'd just adopt.

I think this is what I'd do, too.

[Dawnstar]

it all depends on if i find this information out after i found out i was pregnant. If that is the case then I would have the child because it is already a part of me. So I would have it it and love it and take care of it.

But if i found out before i became pregnant it would be a seriously hard decision because it is possible to beat the odds but it comes down to how much do you want to leave to chance. I honestly do not know what I would do if a doc told me this before i ever became pregnant.

[Janos]

If I had a serious genetic condition and I HAD to have kids I'd just adopt. Or buy a cat.

Truth.

I know two couples that have insisted on having children despite the advice of doctors. One couple has a child that is severely mentally retarded and probably won't live past puberty. They're making the best of the situation, but it is definately hard on them. The other couple's child turned out okay, but is deaf and has a heart condition that will probably turn into heart related complications late in life.

In both cases I think the superior decision would have been for the parents to adopt.

[seizure salad]

the medications i am on make it highly likely for me to have a baby with birth defects. i would love to be a mommy; and the only time i would be ready to become one would be while i was medicated. also, my seizures are effected by my hormones (i know an epileptic who didn't have seizures untill she became pregnant) and the uncertainty of how my hormonal changes would effect me deters me from wanting to take that chance. i am thinking once i am in a more stable place in my life adopting or foster parenting are better options.

[mollygrue]

X #1' s family has Huntingtons disease--- a part of the reason we only had one child, and that one wasnt planned.

I have always thought that a disease like Tay-Sachs would be possibly the worst hell a parent could endure ( quite aside from the suffering of the child)

for those who are not familiar with the infantile form of TS, the child begins to deteriorate at the age of 6 mos, and dies at apx 5. many unpleasant symptoms and much suffering along the way.

if i knew i carried the gene, i would not reproduce--if i became pg. and knew from amnio the child would be a victim, i would end the pregnacy. I do not believe that all life is inherently precious and valuable--and i do not believe that it is the' will of god ' or "all part of gods mysterious plan' that any child endure such torment.

(anybody going to start a terry schivo thread?)