Here's a question

What do we do about down's syndrome? Assuming we do end up with a child, right now there is a significant chance of us having at least one child with down's syndrome. Greater than 1%. With possibly three embryos, that means there is a small chance of multiple down's syndrome children. Terrifying, yes.

Most parents who find that their child has down's syndrome early in the pregnancy end up terminating the pregnancy. Given the difficulty we have creating a viable embryo, is it worth the chance of not having another child at all? That depends on what we, as parents, want to get out of creating a living human being. Knowing that my drive for having a child is primarily instinctual, I would say having a healthy and productive child is important. I may possibly prefer instinctually to bring no life into this world rather than to bring a burden into this world.

What about the embryo's life? It's not close to viable life outside the womb by the time we can discover down's syndrome. Its hard to truly call it a child, though at some point it becomes more definitively human. Given that I felt a sense of responsibility for the life of 8 celled organisms, I suspect that I will want to keep the embryo with down’s syndrome alive as well.

Tough call.

--e (forgot the all important stoned e)

OK. Now what do I need do.

The pregnancy test showed positive today. Time to start learning about what I need to do for the next twenty years (hopefully.)

--e

Update on the parenthood thing

Just to keep all my wonderful readers informed, all zero of you, we only implanted three embryos. There were four good embryos; but, the statistics are such that only implanting three and freezing one for later use yields a better chance of a live birth. So that’s what we’re doing. We won’t know until Thursday, 27 November, if the embryos successfully implanted. More later.

If you resist totalitarianism, you are not a Patriot

I’m tired of all the “you’re not a patriot if....” nonsense. You know what? I’m not a patriot. I loathe patriotism and nationalism as a disease of the heart. It causes hatred and war as much as religion or race. You want to talk about an “ism”, talk about humanism. The nation-state is a dying political entity. It will take a while, maybe more than our lifetimes, but it will die. The sooner the better.

Following the path before me

Today we created life. Four lives, to be exact.

Truth to tell, it was yesterday that life was created. Yesterday Hirono and I used her eggs and my sperm to create embryos. Four embryos were created. Each is its own life. They are not yet human. What I feel right now is very visceral. Very instinctual. There is absolutely no question about it. My devotion to this new life is unbreakable. But yet I feel very clearly they are not yet human.

Our goal is to have twins or a single child. If more than two eggs begin to mature in the womb we have a tough question to face. That decision tests the limit of my bond. Herein lies the dilemma of abortion. What sway does our instinct have upon our judgment?

What are the changes to the odds of healthy delivery of children if we go to term on more than two? What happens to Hirono’s body? What are her survival chances? These are the primary factors in that decision. Nobody else can tell us what is right and what is not right. This is a moral dilemma Hirono and I must face together, alone.

--e

The Only God is Fear

The heart of wisdom is a never ending thirst for the truth, with a little ‘t’. The deepest truth is not dark or bleak in any way. We are frail. We are mortal. We have love and hate and fear inside of us. Fear of this truth leads to ignorance, greed and sloth – and is what drives the great theist religions of this world.

The Nation-State as Anachronism

Hirono and I went to see Rage Against the Machine tonight. Great show.

Actually, it was called “Rock the Bells” and featured other big names like Wu-Tang Clan, Cyprus Hill, and Public Enemy. It was held in a parking lot in the SOMA district of San Francisco. What a difference from the Poison/Ratt show last weekend.

Whereas the Poison and Ratt show was held out in farmland and very violent, the show tonight was a big mother of a festival and was incredibly peaceful. 50,000 people (sold out!) No seats. Just a stage and a parking lot and some screens for the people further back. The music tonight was much more violent, or at least thats the appearance. The atmosphere of the show was tremendously peaceful, though. The freaks were out in force. Pipes were being passed around, as were joints. It was like day and night compared to the show last weekend. Even the exit was orderly and respectful, without any problem traffic.

It is encouraging to note that the show with 25 times more people was the more peaceful one. There is hope for humanity.

Legalize it!

--e