Embryo Screening?

I was listening to the radio the other day on my way home from work when I heard this clip from Breakpoint (link takes you to the transcript).  My first thought when I heard the term eugenics was not Nazi's, but the movement that took place in Vermont led by Perkins at UVM. Author Jodi Picoult wrote a novel that "[delved] into a very ugly chapter of American history and one that is probably not well known: Vermont's eugenics project of the 1920s and 30."

This Peds doctor now wants to do something similar--screen embryos for "inferior genes."

What disturbed me most was the thought that someone other than the parents of a child would decide whether or not that life was worth keeping. I have a feeling that a child with Down's or another detectable disability would be, as this article put it, "weeded out" because of "inferior genes."  What if a women decided that she did not want her embryos screened? Would she be sued by the State if her child was born with medical defects? What if her embryos were screened and found to have anomalies and she chose to not destroy it? Would that child be denied services that it might need to survive in this crazy world? So many unanswered questions. Either way, it is not something I agree with. How about you?

100th Year Anniversary of International Women's Day

It's the 100th year anniversary of IWD today, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I probably would not consider myself a feminist, but I do agree with equal rights and opportunities for all people--women, men, child, black, white, or a shade in between, old, young, born and unborn. I think we are all people and deserve to live life with respect and dignity. However, I sometimes wonder why women can't choose to be homemakers and have respect for it! It seems to me that women fought for the right to vote, the right to work outside the home after marriage and children, the right to equal educational opportunities, etc... but then they were expected to be just like men. 

What if I want to stay home and raise my children after they are born? What if I want to allow my husband to work and provide for our family? Shouldn't I be allowed to do that without being ridiculed or thought less of? I don't believe there is any reason to think less of women who choose to live a life that makes them happy.

Family Homeschooling and the Financial Question

So this morning I've been reading blog posts about homeschooling. I'm not a parent, but I do work with young children in a setting where I am pretty much free to run the day on my schedule. And someday, when I have children of my own, I do indeed hope to home school. So while I have lots of time on my hands to learn what I am interested in, that is what I am doing. I also realize that I will be prepared to counter my and my husband's families when the time comes to let them know that we have decided to home school, or possibly "unschool".

Anyway, after reading blog article, after article, after article I came across this one--Biking from Alaska to Argentina. I tried to leave a comment on the article itself, but there wasn't a button to click on to let me do that! So, I'm leaving it up to you all out there is cyberspace to answer my question--If both parents are biking with their children during this trip, how do they earn money to buy food, pay for lodging, and visit all the places they want to on their trip? If there is someone out there who knows the answer to this question, please let me know! It sounds like such a great family and learning experience to be able to do something such as bike across the country. I'm just wondering how they are able to pull it off.

Pain... Childbirth... and the Bible

Over the weekend I attended a meeting with my grandmother with a group she and I belong to. This month's topic was Life of Women in the Bible. I was super excited for this presentation given by a local minister because it is something I am deeply interested in. On my quest for a deeper understanding of the Bible and my personal journey of faith, I was looking forward to learning more about some of the amazing women. Of course, the presentation started with Eve-mother of all really. And while I am still not sure exactly how my views of creation are forming (it seems to be a lump of clay that is constantly shifting... interesting pun perhaps?), I did enjoy very much what this minister had to say on the topic of Eve.

One of the things we discussed was the misconception that women have been punished by sin to have painful labors. I say misconception because God never actually said to Eve that she would be punished because of her sin. In fact, he cursed the ground, not Eve! And the term sin did not even appear in the Bible until Cain and Abel. So lets empower women by breaking down the stereotype that women cause "The Fall." 

I've found another blog that mentions this very topic. You can read that post here.   I plan to do more research on birth practices, religion, and rights of passage for empowering women.

The rights of Donor-Conceived Children... Do they have any?

I recently read this article on children who were donor-conceived. There seems to be more and more in the news on this as children, who are growing up trying to figure out who they are, fight for their right to know their paternity. I hope these children win the right for updated medical history and to know the truth about their biological make-up. I hope that someday, those who choose to donate sperm are required to go through extensive psychological evaluations and counseled in how to handle their potential children contacting them decades down the road. What do you think? Should men be able to just donate their sperm for cash without having to provide information that could some day be critical to the children conceived from their DNA?

Creating a view of Pedigree

One of my favorite shows is called "Who do you think you are?" While many criticize the show for using celebrities who can afford to hire professionals to do the research for them, I've found it inspiring and often find myself wondering why they don't show the celebrities trying to do some of the research on their own (It's really not that difficult).

I started researching my family tree about a year ago using ancestry-dot-com. I feel fortunate that I knew enough details to get started, and many pieces have just fallen into place. The hard part is dealing with family members who've immigrated. I'm on a mission to complete the puzzle that is my pedigree.

I really am a block of clay

I'm never sure when I go to start a project such as this one where it will take me. I had some thoughts and ideas about what I would like to write about, but over time, I'm sure it will evolve into something way greater than I can imagine.  I've recently had an epiphany about life in general. It started with a review of the book of Genesis in the Bible and how God created man from the clay. Whether you believe in creationism, evolution, or something in between, I don't think anyone can argue that we really are a ball of clay that is constantly being worked, poked, prodded, rolled, and reshaped on a daily basis. And that is a wonderful thing!