What I learned from this is "Icelandic women are smart".
I dunno, Down syndrome people can have a good quality of life. They can work, they have hobbies and they're generally really very well-liked & friendly. The big problem is that they're incredibly literal. They don't understand nuance and they have trouble processing anything in the abstract. Like if they have a golden retriever at home, and you show them a picture of a different golden, they will not understand that they're two different dogs. They can't have their own bank accounts, they always need some help & supervision. But if you know anyone with the disorder, it's hard to think that person shouldn't be here.
It not that I think they shouldn't be there personally, it's that a pragmatic choice is to have the healthiest babies. I appreciate pragmatic realism and I appreciate intelligent choice over emotional choice. And having a disabled child that will not be able to function independently simply isn't an intelligent choice.
So if your kid became blind, what then? If he had meningitis and a slow recovery, what then? I just don't get it.
Life is always going to throw you a curveball, there are healthy people who play college sports but then develop schizophrenia or drug addiction and end up homeless or reliant on their parents forever. Google Todd Marinovich. You can't control for health or success, not really. There are too many variables.
I struggle with the idea that people abort babies who could be happy, have friendships etc. That's really the thing for me: Down syndrome kids & adults connect with people, they add value to others' lives as friends, they communicate really well and they can work unskilled jobs. It's not like bringing a baby to term who will only know pain, who will never communicate and will be dead by 2 after a short, miserable life. That's the difference for me. It's a mostly functional person, more than some non-disabled people who fuck their own lives up with addictions etc. They deserve some shot at having a life.
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