I have recently been studying the various barriers that can block the way for women and men in our society to receive assistance on becoming pregnant. Throughout the US and the world, people are being denied fertility treatment based on marital status, sexual orientation, ability to pay, and other discriminatory factors. In late 2005 and early 2006, legislation in Indiana and Virginia prohibited providers from offering any conception procedure to an unmarried woman (Schneider, Assisted Reproduction Bill Dropped, Indianapolis Star, Oct. 6, 2005). The politically correct knee jerk reaction is to be offended by these realities: how is this happening in our society-- we are all supposed to be treated equally! Even though I know I should be whole-heartedly behind that train of thought, I am not. Truthfully, I am slightly against the thought of an unmarried couple wanting to have fertility treatment. If I were the fertility doctor posed with the case, you bet that in the back of my mind I would be saying, "Most likely, this relationship is not going to last. Especially after the emotionally trying times of fertility treatment. If this woman gets pregnant with my help, I will aided bringing a child into a most likely single-parent home."THAT would be the first knee jerk reaction for me; the 'equal rights for all'/'don't judge' notion would follow.
But then it dawned on me to compare this to natural conception. There are children born every second to homes that many would not approve of, or think that it is an 'optimal' setting. Yet, no one has the right to tell them that they cannot procreate, or dare to think that they shouldn't have been born. Heck, we can believe all we want that it's not great that kids are born to families of criminals, prostitutes, drug dealers, or even to 16-year-olds-- yet it happens and the public doesn't think its morally wrong not to have any say. Why in the situation of fertility treatments I would mentally determine the couple's 'eligibility' to have children? Talk about double standards.
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