Ethical Dilemmas In Anencephalic Infants

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Anencephalic Infants Britney Moore Abnormal Psychology April 28, 2012 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to show the ethical dilemmas that are involved in health care today in regards to organ transplantation especially in anencephalic infants. This topic interests me because it is an abnormal neural tube defect that affects infants in today’s society. While reading about Rett’s Disorder I found there are similarities between the two disorders. For example both Rett’s Disorder and Anencephaly infants have abnormally small heads and they either lose the ability to use motor skills and talk or never are able to do either. Both also affect mostly girls and the child loses the ability to properly function. The issue that I have…show more content…
The neural tube does not properly close and the major portion of the brain and top part of the skull are missing resulting in a congenital malformation (Berger, 2005). Microcephaly is when an infant has an abnormally small head that stops increasing in size and anencephalic infants also share this same quality (Sarason, 2005). Anencephalic infants are born without the thinking and coordinating area of the brain and the results of this leads to deafness, unconsciousness, blindness, and the inability to feel pain. Some infants that are born with anencephaly have been known to exhibit reflexes such as responses to stimuli like sound and touch. Most families that have experienced having a child with anencephaly have argued that although anencephalic babies are born without certain senses and a malformed skull they do recognize love and affection (Byrne, Evers, Richard, 2005). Although most infants born with anencephaly live short lives it has become a controversial and relevant topic of whether or not their organs should be donated to other patients in need of…show more content…
For example infants that are born severely mentally retarded share some of the same qualities with anencephalic infants such as lack of motor skills and bowel or bladder control. There are also concerns with using the organs of anencephalic infants like if the organs such as the heart, liver, and kidneys will successfully continue to properly function. When an anencephalic infant is born there is some autonomic brain function and some reflexes however the organs can’t be removed until the infant has been certified dead. There is a need to save infants lives that are dying from liver, renal, and cardiac diseases but is it right to take the life of an existing infant because of their abnormality? What makes one patients life more valuable than another and more importantly the infant with anencephaly has a moral right to life. Some argue that if the infant was already predisposed to death and if the organs were obtained and given to a recipient it could offer meaning for the anencephalic infant’s family as well as ensure the life of a infant in need of these vital organs (Berger, 2005). In fact there have been controversial situations where families have wanted to volunteer to have their baby’s organs given to infants in need of liver, heart, kidneys, and lungs in order to survive. There are ethical principles that require the infant to be
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