The Perfect Child

Have you ever heard of the story of a man who tried to create the perfect human being but instead created a hideous monster who destroyed his creator’s family and life? Yes, Frankenstein did not want to create a monster, he wanted to create the ‘perfect human’, a dream that turned into a nightmare.

It seems we never learn from our mistakes, Hitler had an idea of the perfect human and in order to achieve that perfect world he destroyed everything that came his way, including his own life.

No, we never learn.

God could not have created something that was more pure and beautiful than a child. Their carefree laugh, innocent questions and zest for life have always amazed me. Children are a gift from God, a gift which we should accept graciously and with love. But we humans are incapable of even that. All our lives we have exploited and disregarded his gift with great callousness. Children across the world bear the burden of their parent’s expectations. Through our children we want to live our unfulfilled dreams.

We are obsessed with our children being perfect.

And why wait till they are born lets make him perfect even before they see the world. You want your child to have deep blue eyes or maybe jet black hair or would you rather have a child who is athletic or one which is smart? No problem we are working on that! This is still at a developing stage some people may say I am getting carried away because this is merely science fiction and not a fact.

Well then let me give a few facts, take a child with down syndrome in many countries down syndrome is considered a good ground to abort a child with this disability. In Germany alone 90% of all children that were prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome were reportedly aborted. True a child with Down syndrome is different, he may have a lower IQ than other children his age and other limitations but they can and do live a complete and wholesome life and who knows that better than us, an organization that works for people with disabilities whether its Sakshi or Sana our children have proved all those who believe against them wrong.

When Sarah Palin decided to not abort Trig, there was a huge outcry by people who considered her decision unethical. Trig was not ‘normal’, she knew he would suffer all his life due to his disability and therefore she should have had an abortion to save him from all the trouble. This would have been the right ethical choice.

In a somewhat similar case in India a girl with a mild case of mental retardation was raped and when the sate found out she was pregnant they on her behalf decided to get the child aborted. She wanted to keep her child, but the state decided she had no right to take the call, she was mentally retarded, she can not possibly think for herself and what if the child was mentally retarded as well? No, it only made sense to abort this child this was the right ethical choice. This decision was for the benefit of the child, the mother and the society at large.

Both the children did not deserve to be born, they were not normal nor would they ever be like the other children and therefore they had lost their right to live.
The question is not whether they will become ‘normal’ in life, the question really is do we have a right to take a life? Who are we to decide what is normal or perfect?

A child that is happy and loving, one whose laughter lifts up your spirits, a child who is gentle and kind hearted, that is my idea of a perfect child. What is yours?