"Though old enough to be grandmas, there’s no medical reason healthy women in their 50s should be prevented from having babies with donated eggs, according to the largest study of motherhood after menopause. "
There is no medical reason, but is their an ethical one?
"Some say it’s unethical to allow women to become pregnant who might not live to see their children grow up. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s ethics committee says using egg donation in postmenopausal women should be discouraged.
But Dr. Richard Paulson, the lead researcher and director of USC’s program, said denying them the chance would be ageism.
“Not only do I not have a problem in allowing them to become pregnant, I would have an ethical problem in denying them,” he said. "
Should there be an age cut-off when society allows women to get pregnant? Even if we don’t have a law against it, is it a good idea?
I caught that clip on the news last night, and while I don’t feel that older women should be actively prevented from getting pregnant. (There’s a weird Big Brother angle for me when the government starts fiddling with reproductive rights in any way,) I am completely fed up with the victimized attitude that some people take.
It is age-ist and unfair, but you know what? That’s the state of nature. Mother nature the original biggot. People treat ageing as a process that should be reversed through medical science, and while I see the value of using science to raise the quality of life, it’s hard for me to believe that a right to reproduction is the same as a right to basic medical care.
I know, someone will make the argument “Well, in nature people fall down and cut themselves and you think they have a right to stitches, what’s difference?”
It is not that all things in nature should be left to stand (although that’s an interesting idea…) But I see a certain hubris in asserting the right to reproduction that I don’t see in the same level of care for personal survival…
It’s a delicate balance, and while I support people who would like to have families (I will someday too,) I guess I feel like childlessness is not the social tragedy we sometimes make it out to be.
Well, then is it unethical to father a child in your 50s? Women have longer lifespans (generally speaking).
How about allowing a women with diabetes to get pregnant? How about if she requires fertility treatment? A women with a history of heart trouble? How about one with a history of depression?
A friend of mine has a husband with CF. They used reproductive technology to have a child - even though the child WILL have a genetic recessive for CF and even though his life expectancy has been 10 years since he was a teenager.
I think people should get to make their own reproductive choices - lets hope they put some thought into them. Personally, I’d rather see a 56 year old mother than a 14 year old one. But, it ain’t my decision.
Does the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s ethics committee say this because these women are post-menopausal, or is it because these women are in their 50’s? If it’s post-menopausal, what does whether or not they’ll live long enough to see the kids grow up have to do with it? If it’s because the women are in their 50’s, does the ASRM have an opinion on whether or not guys in their 50’s should be fathering children? What’s their opinion of Tony Randall?
I don’t believe that there should be laws to set a maximum age at which a woman (or man) can have children, but I think there are credible ethical concerns there.
It seems to me to be fundamentally wrong to have a child when you know there is a good chance you won’t be around to raise it. With a 50 year old woman, this is somewhat less of an issue, I suppose - she has a good 25 years left in her, statistically speaking. But what about a 60 year old? Would it be right to have a child, knowing that you’re likely going to leave him parentless when he hits his teens? It seems wholly unfair to the child.
The problem is somewhat less severe if at least one parent is likely to be around for the long haul - say a 60 year old woman and a 50 year old man. Still not an ideal situation, and I wouldn’t do it to my child, but it’s not quite as morally contemptable as planning to have both parents keel over on the poor youth.
Further, I think this principle holds in any case where the parent is not likely going to be around much longer. Diagnosed with a terminal disease that’s going to knock you off in five years? Don’t have kids.
Still, I wouldn’t advocate a law on this subject. It’s one of those situations that should be frowned upon by society, but not banned.
Jeff
I won’t say if I think it’s a good idea or not but I will say I’m completely against any legislative action that prevents a woman from procreating based solely on her age.
Should there be a law? Unless the procedure has a highly increased risk of side effects like birth defects, no.
Is it a good idea? no.
Why? Because assuming the medical procedure is as safe as any other medical procedure, how is this any different than a man fathering a child that he won’t see grow up?
Each of these is a slightly different case. Being likely to die soon, and being more likely to die soon than the average person your age, are not the same things. I would guess that a 25 year old with diabetes is probably more likely to be around for 20 years than a healthy 60 year old.
Jeff
I’ll have to side with everyone opposing any kind of legislation on the issue.
That having been said, having a child just because you can strikes me as an incredibly selfish act. There are too damn many people having children for their own personal fulfillment, without thinking of the consequences their offspring will have to deal with.
As a petty example; I’m thankful that my mom was able to help drive me and friends to the movies, parties, etc, when I was a teenager. Want to explain to your 13 year old friends that you’re stuck at home because mom is too old to drive anymore? You bring a child into this world, you should damn well plan on being there as a parent.
And no, I don’t have any kids for those same reasons. I’m not willing and/or able to provide the type of responsibility I feel is needed to raise a human being.
Instead of constantly focussing upon the age of the mother, what about the child?
Would you like to be the child that graduates from high school, with a mother in her 70s or later? How would you as the child like it, growing up with an elderly parent, unable to play, interact and learn with your mother the same way other kids play, interact and learn from parents closer to their own age?
Seems to me, being born and raised by someone who should be your grandmother, when in fact she is your mother, is not fair to the child. This is different than a child being raised by their real grandmother for a variety of reasons.
As long as the debate focusses on the vanity and ethics of the mother, with no attention upon the child, we miss the boat entirely.
Duckster - is that “But think of the children!!!”?
I’m not buying it. Its like the anti-gay adoption rant “But think of the children, what would it be like to grow up with two dads!” Guess what. Gays do it all the time and the kids turn out just fine.
And older parents raise kids all the time. Grandparents raise their grandchildren when their kids can’t (or won’t) do it - as you pointed out yourself. How is this different, I don’t see it. People adopt when they are older. Older women even (gasp!) get pregnant without reproductive help - granted not into their 60s, but certainly well into their 40s and occationally into their 50s.
We don’t get to choose who reproduces. There is no parental licensing requirement. Crack heads do it (they shouldn’t, but they do). Sixteen year olds do it. Hell, even conservative christians get to have kids (that was a joke, for the sarcasm impared).
I don’t think fertility treatments are a right. But they are a commodity. You can’t tell someone that they can’t buy something because they are “too old.” (A doctor, however, does have the right to refuse treatment to someone because s/he feels it would be unethical).
I think giving birth in your 60s is a terrible idea. It was hard enough for me to have my “late in life” pregnancy in my 30s, and I have a girlfriend who only survived her labor and delivery at 40 due to lots of transfusions and four hours in surgery post delivery - blamed by her OB on her age. But I don’t get to make that choice for anyone else.
Well aren’t you contradicting yourself, dude? People aren’t exactly maximizing the chance of offspring here…
And I don’t think it’s been proven that having a kid while you’re a teenager is a good idea at all. It’s because it’s so much work that it’s much harder when you’re still practically a kid yourself.
Hey, a couple of people have already brought this up, but I’ll bring it up again—OLDER MEN have been reproducing for years. Old, old men. Strom Thurmond. He had a kid when he was—what? In his 60s? (Yikes!) No one gets worked up about that, do they? No one is getting their knickers in a twist about that, are they?
So why get all worked up when a woman does it? I mean, I agree, it’s sad if a mom is too old to do some of the more active and physical things with her kids because she’s too old, but then again, it’s sad when the dad is too old too. And yet, dads do it all the time.
My dad was in his early 40s when I was born, and he died when I was in my 20s. I miss him terribly, I wish he were still around, but those are the breaks. My dad would have lived longer had he taken better care of himself. Others in his family had lived to 100, and he’d hoped he would too. So there you go. ::shrug::
I’m 57 (male), and I shure don’t want to have any more kids. Too much work, and I doubt I’d have the stamina by the time the kid’s a teenager.
A law? No way. But I’d advise any older person, man or woman, to really think about it before commiting top raise a child to adulthood.
I wonder what it be like being a 15 yr old with parents in their 70’s. Some grandparents do raise their grandkids, though.
Nah, not a good idea, imo.
Peace,
mangeorge
IF A PERSON IS HAPPY - LEAVE THEM THE FUCK ALONE!!! ONECE YOUR ARE OLD! or what you believe to be OLD. You will know and understand. DON’t FUCK with what you don’t understand or WHAT YOU DON’t WANT TO BELIEVE! KEEP AN OPEN MIND! YOUR IGNORAMOUS!!
So, who are these women who know for a fact that they’ll be there to see their children grow up? Isn’t it true that we’re all going to die and many mothers die young, regardless of when they have their children? This is irrelavent in my book
