It sort of took me back when I read on page 56 that those who had great physical and mental qualities were required to donate their eggs. It did not seem that important in the book but I find this to be a big violation of reproductive rights. There are a lot of people for egg donation and against it and those women should have a right to choose to donate or not to donate. It's also almost genecide of for lack of a better word stupid or ugly people. It reminded me of that Harvard graduate trying to sell her eggs for thousands of dollars because she knew people would want her "smart" genes. It also made me think of how women can now abort pregnancies if the child is going to be deformed or even if the child is not going to be the gender they wanted. I just do not think this is fair. I understand that raising a child who is disabled or diformed is hard to deal with but that is the egg that was chosen to recieve life. I'm not really all for one side of the issue or the other but I just feel imperfections is the way of nature and everyone coming out "normal" or "smart" would just make the world boring. Imperfection can be more beautiful than perfection.
I also noticed on page 61 how once again a female character is showing motherly instincts. Even though Helva is incapable of having children (or is she?) she still wants to protect the donated eggs at all cost like they are her own. She also felt close to them in a strange way because they were encapsaled just like she was, obviously not forever though like her.
I was very happy when Helva gave Kira an idea of how she could have children with her beloved, lost husband. When Kira turns around and says that Helva could do the same thing with her mother's eggs and Jennan's father's sperm this confused me. She is a ship... could she be able to raise a child? This just blew my mind with so many questions and possibilities... I would rather not look to much into it but wow was that a strange thing to suggest!
McCaffrey certainly tackles a lot of moral issues in this novel. The idea of sperm and egg collection is a controversial subject even now, over forty years after the story was first published. I agree, though; it seems a violation to make the donation mandatory for anyone with particularly desirable or rare traits. I can understand it in terms of providing a widow her husband’s children, as described in the novel, but the other uses seem almost immoral on various levels. And while the novel doesn’t touch on abortion itself, I think Helva’s situation sort of echoes the ones you presented. Her parents were essentially given the choice to abort her – albeit after birth by euthanasia – or give her up.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the woman selling her ‘smart’ eggs, I think it’s a very appropriate analogy. It seems that people seem to want to almost ‘genetically engineer’ their families (though this may be what the popular media wants us to believe rather than reality) rather than letting nature take its course. Nevertheless, at least it was that woman’s choice to distribute her reproductive material rather than a mandatory action as in the novel. And I think it shows how our own society is moving closer to that of McCaffrey’s world; there are people willing to pay for those ‘genetically superior’ eggs, so will their distribution someday be controlled by the government?
It’s revealed that these uses of donated sperm and eggs are the exception while “naturally conceived children were the rule,” but the fact that they have these guidelines regarding their use shows it’s a much more widespread practice in McCaffrey’s universe than in our own. It’s troubling, and definitely asks us to think about how far is too far.
I think we are walking a fine line now that we have the ability manipulate genetics and reproduction. A person can choose what genes they want to eliminate in their own DNA or with egg donation, what they want qualities and genetics they want for their child. When a couple needs a donor egg they are given a profile about the donors medical background but it also details if they are athletic, what college they went to (if they went to college), and other aspects of their personal life in order for the person or persons to decide what "kind" of child they want. Gender can also be selected. I am currently helping a couple have a child of their own by being their surrogate but it also present a lot of moral and ethically issue with it. If a couple can not have a child should they be able to have someone else carry it for them? Genetic test are done on the parents before hand in order to eliminate the possibility of serious genetic diseases. If we be able to "weed out" those genetic traits what else can we eliminate? If the goal is create a healthy child I think that it is a good thing but it also has the possibility to be taken to extremes and it can cause more harm then good. I guess with any technology there is the potential for good and bad. We just have to hope for more good.
ReplyDeleteWow Jayme you're going to be a surrogate mother? That's really interesting. How did you find out about that or how are you going about doing it? I think that is so great of you. There are so many women that are not able to have children and they deserve that chance. Some technology today with genetics and reproduction is really mest up but I feel egg donations and being a surrogate is a great thing. It does sort of scare me though so I have yet to donate.
ReplyDeleteWow, y'all -- what an awesome discussion! All of you raise excellent points. A lot of this reminds of 19th-century Social Darwinism, which was initially the idea that one should choose one's mate based not only on their physical appearance but on their moral fiber and social productiveness. However, it soon became eugenics and then Nazism.
ReplyDeleteSo then, could our increasing intervention in manipulating the genetics of embryos have that same destructive potential? I'm suspicious of both the "let's keep everything natural" (since nothing humans do is "natural") and the "we have the tech so let's do it" arguments. Definitely, no easy answers here, but a good subject to discuss!