Shades of Gray

I'm in the middle of my 10 day vacation in the Carribean. It's wonderful to say the least. Today we began our day by renting scooters. After about 20 minutes wobbling along streets I didn't know, almost laying it down, and basically being terrified, I decided to go back. No problem, because I had plenty of reading material for the beach.

In my bag, I had the two most recent issues of The Sun. One article in particular struck me, Stories For An Unborn Son. The gist of the piece was this: a woman is a carrier for a certain genetic disorder (hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, or HED) that is passed from mother to son, sometimes. According to the author, it makes life difficult because the particular genetic mutation is that the son is born without sweat glands, and a few other manifestations of the disorder. The author discusses her desire to have a child, be pregnant, etc., but she struggles with the thought of knowingly bringing a child into the world whose life would be very difficult. There are tests available now to determine if a fetus has the disorder, or is merely a carrier (as is usually the case for girls) or does not have the disorder at all (which is possible, too). So she struggles with what she would do if presented with the hypothetical, or the cost of IVF and creating an embryo that does not have the disorder or is a carrier.

This essay reminded me that what we need from other people is love and understanding. I know of a friend who aborted a fetus with a genetic disorder, and whether it was an easy decision for she and her husband to make, or very agonizing, I have no idea, but who am I to say it's horrible, or wrong, etc.? What I mean is this: I think we would better as a community, nation, human race if more people gave each other a little leway for the things they do. Each of us have our struggles, and I think the last thing we need is to add the judgements of others on top.

But here is where I'm stumped. How do I teach this to my children who live in a very black and white world?