| User | Comment |
|---|
| JessicaWoman99 | | posted 10-Jan-2007 5:32pm |
This sounds like a good case of child abuse to me and the parents should have thought of something else for this poor little girl, and I do not agree at all, I mean stopping her growth is horrible thing to do to her and the parents are sick sick |
Maarten  | | posted 10-Jan-2007 5:34pm |
I don't know enough about this to agree with it or to condemn it. |
| RGirl | | posted 10-Jan-2007 5:46pm |
I think they have a mix of the girl's best interests and their own at heart. I would never do this to my child. I don't agree with it because anything can happen during surgery. Some freak accident with anesthesia or something and you've killed the kid just so you wouldn't have to change her pad for 7 days each month. |
dab   | | posted 10-Jan-2007 6:01pm |
Really, I can only say that I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. I feel for the parents and think there is no right answer. |
bill  | | posted 10-Jan-2007 6:59pm |
parents must be stopped!!! |
Galomorro   | | posted 10-Jan-2007 7:19pm |
I think it's in the girl's best interests given all that I've read about this case. |
| ausfox | | posted 10-Jan-2007 8:12pm |
I can understand the parents reasoning and other people who have never experienced caring for a severely handicapped child cannot imagine what it would be like. This doesn't mean that it is something that I would necessarily do, or that I agree with the medical treatments involved. |
| romkey | | posted 10-Jan-2007 8:58pm |
I don't know what's in the parents' hearts. I can see both sides of the issue... these procedures are certainly subject to abuse... but I can also see that having done them she may have a better quality of life than she would otherwise. Whatever that means in her case. |
| they | | posted 10-Jan-2007 9:04pm |
I think the parents have the girl's best interests at heart.
I was just reading about the pillow angel a few minutes ago at her family's personal site. |
| mandy | | posted 10-Jan-2007 10:13pm |
ICK! |
LindaH   | | posted 10-Jan-2007 10:16pm |
I see nothing wrong with it in this particular case. Her quality of life is already so low, and there's no chance of her being able to do any of the normal things that older, big people do. Keeping her small certianly isn't going to make her any worse off. |
| hypersky | | posted 10-Jan-2007 10:17pm |
I cannot begin to imagine those parents' situation, so I'm in no position to tell them what to do. I had never heard that you could medically stunt a person's physical development before, so this is new. I think the big issue here is that medicine can actually stop a person's growth, and that that can be a scary thing. But the parents opted for this in order to be able to care for their child instead of sending her off to an institution. So in that respect, I think they did the right thing. |
| cloudhugger | | posted 11-Jan-2007 12:03am |
I need to remain silent lest I judge another human eings pain. |
| cloudhugger | | posted 11-Jan-2007 12:05am |
It does ring an interesting thought about the doctors are probaly drooling over this great experiment they get to do. |
| Zang | | posted 11-Jan-2007 12:14am |
I saw this on another site. Yeah it's pretty disturbing on some level. I suppose what disturbed me the most was that they are essentially trying to keep their child "a child" forever. One can't help but suspect that there are purely subjective motives behind that.
But they've managed to rationalise everything to the point where it's hard to disagree. I don't have to constantly care for a severely disabled child for the rest of my life. So who am I to criticise? |
| Melf | | posted 11-Jan-2007 2:12am |
I think the parents are sick to do this to her.
I don't agree with it because: the parents have made a choice for their girl which will affect her for the rest of her life when they know she can't do anything about it. I wouldn't expect it to be done to anyone, and I don't care how much their back hurts, I don't think they should be mutilating a child for their own sake.
I would never do this to my hypothetical child. |
| Sunrise | | posted 11-Jan-2007 4:37am |
I totally agree, the parents are looking into the future when this child becomes an adult...and they (the parents) are aging and becoming frail themselves..nobody will look after this girl better then her parents; who made a huge sacrific in keeping her at home! |
| icurok | | posted 11-Jan-2007 5:50am |
Let's look at the facts, shall we?
She has the mental age of a 3 month old baby. She will never talk, crawl or even walk and can barely lift her head from her pillow. What exactly is this treatment depriving her of? Shopping with her mother for her first bra? Going to the prom? Having a boyfriend? Getting married? Having kids? Going for long walks on the beach? She's deprived of all of that already.
A big issue that people seem to have is that Ashley is likely to have a normal life expectancy. People have said, "When she's 50 (and still in a nine year old body) and her parents have passed away, who's going to look after her?". Surely this is a question that would have to be answered whether she'd had the treatment or not?
You know what's more cruel? Allowing someone with the mental age of a baby to undergo menstruation and allowing someone to inhabit a body that is totally alien to them. What these parents are ensuring is that *they*, as her parents, are able to give her the care and love she deserves for as long as they can.
This is a quote from another parent, written on the blog set up by Ashley's parents. I think everyone who thinks that the parents are sick ought to read it.
“Having an 18 year old mentally handicapped daughter who weighs 220 lbs is no picnic. Getting her in the bath and out again is hard work and some skillful wrestling moves. She is able to walk unsteadily, so thankfully I have that, but please don't judge until you've tried wrestling a 220 lb scared child out of the tub by yourself after she has fallen and hoping the soothing words: 'It's ok, mommy's here, everything is going to be fine' outlasts your back. The black and white / right vs. wrong / ethical vs. unethical line seems so clear for you, but come play at my house for a week ....” |
| southernyankee | | posted 11-Jan-2007 5:29pm |
I think they made the wrong decision. They went too far. I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they have good intetions. |
| chol | | posted 11-Jan-2007 5:53pm |
My understanding of the situation is that the girl was severely retarded and needed total care. The surgery was to make relatively simple activities (bathing, toileting, dressing) easier. This is not a situation in which the girl might otherwise had a more or less independent life on here own, including having a mate. |
| mve17 | | posted 12-Jan-2007 12:33pm |
That's a bit wierd... |
| Wackadoo | | posted 12-Jan-2007 1:14pm |
I saw this story on the Today show a few days ago and was appalled. They are stunting her growth so it's easier for THEM to take care of her. Here's a thought. Why didn't the parents do genetic testing right after becoming pregnant so they could terminate the pregnancy? Then they wouldn't have to raise someone that had special needs and thus made their life difficult. I'm sorry. This makes me mad. I wouldn't alter my child height just to save myself some extra challenges in the long run. |
| jettles | | posted 12-Jan-2007 10:58pm |
i disagree with most all of this. i can understand what they are saying but they only have their own interests at heart, not her's. putting her through surgeries and medical therapies to make their lives easier but prolonging her life in her bedridden condition. they don't even know if she is "in" there. what a horror! |
| ROCKMAN | | posted 13-Jan-2007 8:41am |
I don't have an opinion. |
| patarnone | | posted 13-Jan-2007 3:20pm |
I agree and understand the parents in this case. |
| Cain | | posted 14-Jan-2007 4:36pm |
This is a tough one. On the one hand, because her parent's are her primary caregivers and, if we're honest, the little girl's life will be easier without periods and the risk of cancer, then it seems like a reasonable thing to do. But at the same time, a part of me is horrified by the interference. I can understand where they are coming from, but if she was my daughter, I wouldn't have done it. |
| caviartaste | | posted 14-Jan-2007 7:41pm |
At first i was concerned, but after reading the entire article.... I understood what the parents were saying. They DO have the child's best interests at heart. They said she would not have to have a period - which would be difficult for her - and for them as caretakers to deal with....They would decrease the chances of bedsores by keeping her small. Bedsores are caused by pressure. Many bedridden adult patients tend to gain weight and pressure ulcers are an inevitability. I can certainly see why they chose to do what they did. As ethical a question as it may seem. We do not have all of the information. |
| Iseult | | posted 14-Jan-2007 8:08pm |
I am appalled this is even legal. |
| Enigma | | posted 14-Jan-2007 9:27pm |
I think it makes a disturbing comment about how we view the handicapped. I bet there are a lot of people who are special needs that will be absolutely horrified at this.
Certainly does seem it will make the caregivers lives easier. Perhaps it will mean the girl will get more loving care if the parents can pick her up and hug her and etc. |
| RGirl |
I wonder whose I idea was it. Did the family go to the doctor or did the doctor suggest it to them? |
| Enigma | | (reply to RGirl) posted 16-Jan-2007 12:13pm |
I heard all about this on the radio the other day. Apparently it's something that is done down there but certainly not pushed by the doctors. The parents asked for it apparently. At least that's how the doctor on the radio spun it. |
| ihatespiders | | posted 16-Jan-2007 8:11pm |
I dont know, Id have to walk a mile in the parent's shoes. |
| caviartaste | | (reply to RGirl) posted 17-Jan-2007 8:56am |
I wondered that very same thing.... |
| autumnlight | | posted 20-Jan-2007 10:47am |
I can understand why they have done this - I think its a shame though. |
| filiasan | | posted 22-Jan-2007 9:52pm |
There isn't enough information given for me to make any decision. But for now, my feelings are vacillating between disgust, and wondering if it really was done in the girl's best interest. |
| CCsHottieMami | | posted 10-Mar-2007 11:41am |
What if a cure was found that could reverse her brain damage? I know that sounds farfetched....but there is always hope. |
