Should parents halt a disabled child's growth?
Usually when you hear about hormone treatments being given to children with special needs, it involves efforts to help a child reach maximum height. But here's a procedure that's aimed at doing just the opposite: a growth-attenuation treatment that was used to keep a six-year-old girl with severe disabilities as small as possible so that her parents could easily care for her into adulthood.
Her doctors have reported on the treatment in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, at least in part to get a debate going on whether it's ethical or not. The girl was given a hysterectomy as well as high doses of estrogen to halt her growth and avoid the difficulties that menstruation and an adult height and weight would present for those trying to care for her.
Her family hopes to avoid institutionalization and extend home care by keeping the child at a size they can easily lift and move, and that seems understandable and responsible. And yet ... something about freezing a needy child in time this way doesn't set quite right, does it?
Do you approve of this sort of procedure? Pick a response from the poll at right, then give the doctors their debate in the comments.
Update: Read more about the treatment mentioned here on the family's Web site.
Comments
My first instinct was to say that this should not be done. But after reading the article, I changed my mind. I can see the parent’s point now that I know she will not develop much further. She is functioning at about a 6-month-old level, doesn’t walk, etc. If her parents and siblings will be able to care for her lovingingly themselves if she remains small, then it is the best thing for her in this particular instance. I do, however, think that each situation would need to be carefully appraised before making such an important decision.
I have been a single Mom to my severely disabled son for 11 of his 13 years. I have firsthand opinions on this matter. My child has a naturally slow growth rate and is considerably smaller than most teens his age. He is quite healthy and very well adjusted to his size. The strain that additional size would put on his heart and body by far concerns more than his being smaller than average. But I agree with Cythia that each situation should require much consideration.