Should parents be able to have cosmetic surgery performed on their children if the children either object or are too young too (like an infant)? What if it’s not even to correct a deformity (ala Conner on Nip/Tuck)? Should parents say decide to perform a genital bisection on their son because dad had one? Or bind their daughter’s feet? Is cultural or religous tradition a defence?
Crap! WARNING the first link is NOT safe for work :smack: !
Hoo-boy. This is a hard one. Gross (meaning “large” and, well, “gross”) abnormalities which are visible should, I think, be corrected as early as possible to avoid social issues. The question then becomes what’s worth it and what would merely be “character building.” I don’t think any reasonable thinking person would say that little Juliana Wetmore (“The Girl Without a Face”) should not have received corrective surgery, but what about a baby with a cleft palate? A port wine stain? A “Jewish” nose? A large mole on the face? Freckles? Does it matter whether or not the child herself is bothered by her “flaw”?
As with all medical decisions, I think it’s best left to the parents and doctor to make an individual decision, not strangers on a message board to make blanket proclamations.
And I sense you’re trying to bait this into a circumcision debate, which I find utterly dull. If it stays on plastic surgery, I’m interested, but if it gets stuck on the same ol’ circumcision arguments, I’ll go play elsewhere.
Doesn’t a cleft palate make it difficult to nurse or eat? I would class that as a serious problem that qualifies for infant surgery (I know it’s survivable and all, but it makes life very difficult). The others on the list, no–the child should make those decisions later on.
Depends. Sometimes they have a big gaping hole in the roof of the mouth. Sometimes it’s just a harelip. “Cleft palate” covers a lot of ground.
In general, when there are choices, the parents should be the ones to make them.
A doctor may say it’s ok to ignore a “winestain” or hairy mole because it’s benign, but the parent has every right to keep shopping for second opinions until one agrees with theirs.