The Ashley Treatment

“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 is now 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6.”

The State Of . . . Parenting. The Parents have a blog detailing Ashley’s life and their decision. I (rich) told a friend the other day that child rearing or even the ability to have a child is something you don’t want to get to with another friend. People have their reasons for waiting, not waiting, giving their kids shots, or not giving them shots. With a friend, you can at least trust them to do the right thing. But this? In how many ways do we turn our kids into vanity projects? Doing things to them as a testament to how pious or educated we are? Where is the line?