Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Friday, January 05, 2007
Pillow Angel
This is strange ... to say the least:
In a case fraught with ethical questions, the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled child have stunted her growth to keep their little "pillow angel" a manageable and more portable size.

The bedridden 9-year-old girl had her uterus and breast tissue removed at a Seattle hospital and received large doses of hormones to halt her growth. She now is 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6.
I'm not sure where to start because, well, I'm not sure where to start?

One question I do have is where did the family find a doctor willing to do this? It would appear to be a case fraught with potential problems well beyond the ethical.

Like with most news stories of this type, I'll reserve judgement unless I hear much more. When bizarre stuff is reported it's often the case that we don't know the whole story. As the father said:
"I cannot explain something this complicated in an interview," he told the Los Angeles Times by phone Tuesday.

But, he added: "People think it must have been a horribly difficult decision" to have the treatment performed. "It really wasn't."

He said he and his wife are especially bothered by criticism that the treatment was done for their "convenience."

"That's simply not true at all," he said.
One thing this case may point out is the chronic lack of care services for impaired individuals and their family. For the family to have to resort to this type of treatment is pretty extreme. But in the face of the alternatives currently available, it may have made sense.

Who knows.
Written at 9:08 AM by Greyhair.
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