This morning a fellow tweeter pointed out a link to a photograph of the little girl who was born recently in India. The little girl, who has not yet been named, was born not with two heads, but with two faces. I won’t post the photograph here because I don’t own the rights to the photo, and it’s also a little bit startling if it’s not something you are expecting to see. There are plenty of photographs available if you go the usual Google route.
The part of the story I find so fascinating is the manner in which the little girl has been received. She is viewed by locals as a goddess. Her parents are refusing, however, to consent to any sort of medical scan that could reveal her physical condition in more detail. The scan would be offered to the family without any cost to them, but they will not allow it. A doctor in the village shouted to an ABC newsperson, “She’s not an abnormal baby. It’s just that she has two faces. And she’s living a very normal life. And if she dies in the future, it’s as God wishes.”*
It saddens me that the story of this family is appearing on websites with words like “freak,” “monster” and “weird” in the titles. The story doesn’t belong there. We can be better than that, can’t we?
The question I would like to explore is this: Do these people have the right to deny their daughter a medical test that could result in an improvement in her quality of life? What if the scan showed that there is something doctors can do to relieve some pain or suffering that she is experiencing? It could even put to rest any fears they have about whether or not she can properly breathe or eat.
What if she dies? Does the medical community then have the right to examine the child, to learn from her? What if she can see from all four of her eyes? How would her brain process that information? I guess I can understand why there is scientific curiosity…the opportunity to discover answers to questions like these must be nearly irresistible to some researchers.
But she’s not a scientific curiosity, she’s a person, who deserves as much dignity as anyone. I don’t have the answers to these questions. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on this remarkable story, and I’m interested in hearing what you have to say about it.
*Link to the full story is found here.
Good questions. In a way I love that fact that her community is seeing her as a goddess. Who are we to say differently?
Now if she is in pain, then I do think as her parents, they should do what they can to help her be comfortable.
It is difficult to say what is right. Personally, I do think medical intervention for a child is appropriate as they can’t make their own religious decisions, but I also understand what it means to cross someone’s beliefs. I wouldn’t want someone to cross mine.
Good food for thought.
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Hard questions! I guess I say yes, parents have that right, since that’s in fact their JOB to make those decisions for their children. What you’re probably actually trying to get at is do we think they’re making the right decision. And that I don’t know, because it’s too hard to put myself in their cultural shoes.
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You’ve brought up some good points, and I don’t know how to respond.
One thought I did have, however, was that I don’t like the headline on the ABC link you posted. They’ve called her “two-faced”… which is a term we use in our society to indicate that someone is unreliable and cannot be trusted. Perhaps they could have found a better way to word it?
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Tough question. I think inevitably it’s the parents’ right, not the doctor’s when it comes to a child’s health. if she’s not suffering, and the only reason for whatever medical testing she’s being offered is in the name of “science,” they have every reason to deny it.
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Hm. Of course, consider also the cultural circumstance from another angle: our medically advanced pragmatic test-it-and-fix it system is part of a culture that finds that little girl a freak; in her own community she is seen as special and valuable.
That said, I don’t know what would be the right thing to do.
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It’s a slippery slope, the wondering about the choices parents make in their child’s interest. My first instinct is relief that there is an acceptance of sorts, then there is worry that it turn out like the girl a week or so ago who died because her parents refused medical intervention. I think it’s fair to wonder, but ultimately futile.
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