- (CNSNews.com) - A leading pro-family organization is
questioning attempts by a Suburban Washington, D.C. lesbian couple to
deliberately
create a deaf child.
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- Candy McCullough and Sharon Duchesneau of North Bethesda,
Md. said they did everything possible to make sure their newborn son is
deaf by specifically seeking and obtaining a sperm donor for artificial
insemination who has a lengthy family history of deafness.
-
- But one group has made it clear it disagrees with the
women's choice to produce children with disabilities, not to mention
raising
them in a homosexual household.
-
- "This couple has effectively decided that their
desire to have a deaf child is of more concern to them than is the burden
they are placing on their son," Ken Connor, president of the Family
Research Council, said.
-
- "To intentionally give a child a disability, in
addition to all the disadvantages that come as a result of being raised
in a homosexual household, is incredibly selfish," Connor said.
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- McCullough and Duchesneau, who were featured in a cover
story of the Washington Post Magazine March 31, already have a daughter
who was designed to be deaf and they're hoping their son Gauvin is deaf
as well. Duchesneau is the mother of both children.
-
- Because the child is a newborn infant, it will take
several
months until an audiologist can determine whether Gauvin can or cannot
hear.
-
- The women, however, insisted that it is not of utmost
important that Gauvin is deaf, but they would like their son to have the
same disability as the rest of the family.
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- Duchesneau hopes the family's deafness stays intact.
"He'd be the only hearing member of the family. Other than the
cats,"
she told the Washington Post Magazine.
-
- McCullough was more direct in her hopes that their son
would be deaf. "I would say that we wanted to increase our chances
of having a baby who is deaf," she said in an interview with the
Post.
-
- But Connor said it was wrong to attempt to produce a
deaf child and that serious challenges against the traditional definition
of family were taking place.
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- "This reduces the father to a mere inseminator,
raises the prospects of donor shopping and designer genes, and turns a
baby into a trophy," Connor said.
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- An official with the Family Research Council said the
group's opposition to deliberately creating deaf children would not change
if the couple were heterosexual.
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- McCullough told the Post that families should have the
right to seek sperm donors from anyone in order to be comfortable with
the culture of the family.
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- "Some people look at it like, 'Oh my gosh, you
shouldn't
have a child who has a disability'. But, you know, black people have harder
lives. Why shouldn't parents be able to go ahead and pick a black donor
if that's what they want," McCullough asked rhetorically.
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- "They should have that option. They can feel related
to that culture, bonded with that culture," McCullough said.
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- But Connor disagrees when it comes to deliberately trying
to create children with the burdens of physical disabilities.
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- "We've seen many parents try to ensure they create
children possessing a certain trait, however, this couple has sought to
create a child so that he does not possess a certain trait - in this case,
the ability to hear," Connor said. \sb100\sa100 "One can only
hope that this practice of intentionally manufacturing disabled children
in order to fit the lifestyles of the parents will not progress any
further,"
Connor said.
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- The women were quick to point out that they would not
be disappointed if Gauvin could hear but were just as clear in telling
the Post that they preferred him to be deaf.
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- "A hearing baby would be a blessing,"
Duchesneau
said. "A deaf baby would be a special blessing."
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- Connor hopes the practice of designing babies is stopped.
"The places this slippery slope could lead are frightening,"
he said.
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