Summary: A Wrongful Birth

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1. I do not think that aborting pregnancies that would result in a child born with a severe birth defect(s) should be permitted at any time in prenatal development. Parents who decide not to terminate the disabled fetus may actually come to love their disabled child, as the Brancas in the article, A Wrongful Birth. Many families do not realize that a disabled child can have just as much an impact as a child prodigy (Weil, 2006). A.J.’s parents are a testimonial to the impact a disabled child can have on the family. A.J.’s father comments on the fact that they may not be able to experience their son’s first words but they have so much more than that. When he was voted Most Improved Mobility, he describes being more proud of that, he felt…show more content…
The genetic counselors play a big role in conveying both the negative and positive aspects of raising disabled child. The way the disability is presented to prospective parents could in fact persuade them to a decision they will later come to regret. Genetic counselors need to present the positive aspects of each disability when talking to parents. The counselors also need to supply the parents with as much information as possible. The parents need to realize that a disability is not a death sentence. As stated above, many times a disabled child has just as much an impact on a family as child prodigy and a family may also come to love this child as deeply as they would if they were a “normal” child. Genetic counselors should only be held legally responsible for a regretted decision if the parents felt like they were being persuaded into that decision. Genetic counselors should only give the parents information, both negative and positive, about the disability and nothing more. The counselors should not refer the couple to a hospital that could possibly terminate the fetus nor should they refer them to a facility that will care for the disabled fetus when he/she is born. Their job is to tell the individuals about the disability that is being displayed in the genetic makeup of the embryo, not to tell them whether they should or should not have a

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