# Have two mentally retarded people ever had children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779 "2011-04-18T01:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/61 "2016-02-09T02:14:16Z")
I have a friend who has a Down Syndrome married to a slightly retarded girl and they have two sons. Both are very mentally retardred. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/62 "2016-02-09T02:42:54Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > I have a friend who has a Down Syndrome married to a slightly retarded girl and they have two sons. Both are very mentally retardred. Do the children have Down Syndrome, or some other genetic disorder, and who is taking care of them? ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/63 "2016-02-09T04:08:58Z")
No they didn’t show any Down Syndrome. They actually look normal and I don’t know of any other genetic disorder. They separated and the wife took the boys. My guess would be that they’re at her parents. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/64 "2016-02-09T04:32:56Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > People probably made analogous points when the new-fangled term “mentally retarded” was coined to replace terms like “idiot” and “feeble-minded”, which in turn had been coined to supersede “lunatic”. The current term is “intellectually disabled” or “learning disabled”; these, too, are likely to be replaced in time. > > As long as there are pejorative or judgmental attitudes to learning disability, _whatever_ term we adopted is inevitably going to acquire pejorative connotations, and will need replacement as part of the effort to challenge pejorative stereotypes. To me the main problem is it is an imprecise word choice. Using the term mentally retarded gives you very little information about the actual underlying condition. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/65 "2016-02-09T04:40:38Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > To me the main problem is it is an imprecise word choice. Using the term mentally retarded gives you very little information about the actual underlying condition. That’s not a bug; it’s a feature. The term is intended to embrace those who suffer a learning disability, regardless of the underlying cause. If you want to talk about people who have Down syndrome then you shouldn’t use terms like “mentally retarded” or “learning-disabled”; you should use the term “people with Down syndrome”. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/66 "2016-02-09T05:11:12Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > To me the main problem is it is an imprecise word choice. Using the term mentally retarded gives you very little information about the actual underlying condition. It tells you as much as many medical diagnoses. Which is not a lot. If I tell you someone has Asthma, what does that mean? Are they struggling to breathe and use their inhaler six times a day, or are they running a marathon? People with asthma can be anywhere on that functional spectrum. Do they have trouble in cold weather, or trouble in hot weather? Do they have more trouble breathing out, or breathing in? Do they have allergies to dust or puppies or grapes? “Asthma” is a valid medical diagnosis, just like Mental Retardation is, but it’s not going to give you a very good picture of what’s going on with any individual. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/67 "2016-02-10T23:50:27Z")
I used to teach at a center for handicapped children and we had at least two students who were born of (different) developmentally delayed parents. Edit - just remembered (it was 40 years ago) that there were five total - three from one family, two from another. ---
**Author:** ![lc12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9d8465/32.png) [@lc12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lc12)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/69 "2017-08-17T19:34:49Z")
ok sir or girl just incase u don’t know the R word isn’t used anymore its offensive to use the words mentally R you know the rest id have no problem banning u from this site if. I were an admin ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/70 "2017-08-17T22:10:13Z")
What does it hurt for a young man to get a vasectomy or a woman her tubes tied? They can still enjoy sex and these people, if they want kids, often make great aunts and uncles. If you have rights of guardianship you should be able to get it done to them even without their consent. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/71 "2017-08-17T22:34:27Z")
> [@lc12](#): > > …sir or girl… What are your feelings on hegemonic masculinity? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779/72 "2017-08-17T22:37:56Z")
> [@lc12](#): > > ok sir or girl just incase u don’t know the R word isn’t used anymore its offensive to use the words mentally R you know the rest id have no problem banning u from this site if. I were an admin **Moderator Note** Since you’re not a admin on this site, if you have a problem with a post you should report it rather than junior modding it. Don’t do this again. We also prefer that old threads in General Questions not be revived except to post new factual information. Since this does not, I’m going to close this. Those want to express opinions about the subject of the thread can open a new one in IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-two-mentally-retarded-people-ever-had-children/578779.md?page=3)