I don’t know why I clicked on it, but there was some blurb on Yahoo about a couple winning “The Amazing Race” (or, as I like to call shows of that ilk, “People Doing Really Stupid Things For Money And To Get On TV”). So the couple wins and gets (I believe) a million dollars. I’ll let the article take over:
So what will the happy couple do with their prize money? “[We’re going to] go for the baby!” said Uchenna of the couple’s plans to have children. “In vitro here we come, baby! And if that doesn’t work, adoption!”
Now of course these people are as free as air to spend their money however they want. But what struck me is that yet again adoption is considered the last resort when it comes to Getting That Baby.
I heard it said once that the world could have cured cancer and AIDS four times over with the amount of time and attention spent on infertility procedures. Then there’s the whole surrogate mother thing, which tends to freak me out. Women pregnant with their own grandchildren? And let’s not forget the recent case of the surrogate who gave birth to … QUINTUPLETS. In a nice twist, the surrogate has apparently agreed not to take payment because the new family is strapped for money. Um … gee, why didn’t you think of that before agreeing to carry what amounts to a litter for total strangers?
Infertility is not a disease. Dog knows that one thing the world is not about to run out of is humans. If I were going into medicine strictly for the cash, I would definitely specialize in infertility. The same people who will whine about adoption being “too expensive and time-consuming” will happily pour money down the Fertility Clinic Rabbit Hole for years and years. Never mind that IVF has an 80% failure rate. Never mind that more and more studies are showing that a large percentage of children conceived through IVF suffer from various medical problems. Everybody KNOWS that being a parent doesn’t count unless the kid is your genetic material.
And then there are those who manage to snag The Prize and go on record calling the children “God’s gifts” or “little miracles.” The McCaugheys, they of the IVF-conceived septuplets, often state this. I’m inclined to reply, “well, if you truly obey God like you say, wouldn’t you consider the fact that you couldn’t conceive without expensive drugs and treatments a sign that maybe God meant for you to take in children that had no parents? I mean, really. Out of the seven, two have cerebral palsy, one is still being fed through a tube, and all of them have various medical problems. You could have gone down to a state agency and gotten seven kids like that for a fraction of the cost, seriously. God’s up there throwing up his hands going ‘Dudes! Come on, this is craziness!’”
But hey, it’s their money.
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