Well, I was interested to read this. 18 weeks sounded pretty far into a pregnancy to me, too. So I spoke with my dad, an OB/GYN and infertility and micro-surgery specialist (and pioneer of laparoscopy), to get context from an expert in the field. Here's are a few things he told me.
- Nearly all abortions are performed at 8-9 weeks.
- Fetus viability, that is, the age at which a fetus could live outside the womb is about 28 weeks. With extreme measures, it might be as early as 24 weeks, but usually not without severe problems.
- Genetic tests such as for Downs and Tay-Sachs are done at 17 weeks.
- In the US, there was a lot of media sensationalization of the so-called "partial-birth abortion," a late-term abortion. In reality, these kinds of abortions happen extremely rarely. The most common situation in which a late-term abortion is sought is when the fetus turns out to be anacelaphatic (sp?). This means there is no brain in the skull, a (fortunately) very rare but hard to detect genetic condition. The law is in place not because these are common, but to allow them in these extreme cases.
- His assumption is that, in Denmark as in the US, the vast majority of abortions would also be done very early on. He assumes that the law has been changed to allow for getting the results of genetic testing back. There are many cases where this testing, done at 17 or 18 weeks, reveals genetic abnormalities. The fetus at this point is still two and a half months away from being viable. Moving the legal limit at which abortions can be performed to allow for responding to genetic tests does *not* result in more or the routine abortions being performed at later times.
I wonder if your local gynocologist would have a similar reaction. It might be interesting to see if your doctor agrees with this reaction.
As far as the TV show, I had read of this. I don't remember if there's a US version that I'd read about. I was wondering who volunteers their baby for something like this. I can't imagine doing so. Then again, one commenter on the site said it was like having a teenager baby-sit, but with cameras and experts watching non-stop. I'm divided about this.
I think it's absolutely exploitative, but then all these shows are. Might it be of some value, a reality check to teens who think being a parent is as easy as it seems on TV? Maybe. I would have to know more. How long do the babies stay with the teen families? Then they get toddlers. One week with an average toddler should be enough to lower the teenage birth-rate by 10 points!
By the time the teens have a ten-year-old, I feel sorrier for the teen parents than the ten-year old. Well... I'm being a little bit sarcastic here. But I don't think a withdrawn, sensitive child would be allowed into a situation like this. Also, ten year olds can speak up for themselves. And most of them have gone through some pretty tough times at school and sleep-away camp.
These teens know they're being watched and are trying to do a good job. I find it scarier to think of all the twisted grownups who have kids, that never should be allowed to. When no one's watching and the grownups set the reality, some really nasty and wicked stuff goes on all too often.
At the same time, all these shows are horrible, as far as I'm concerned. They're exploitative and I don't know why people volunterily put themselves in these situations. (That's another reason why this show is so bad, isn't it -- the babies can't volunteer, and the kids are under their parents' influence. They may agree, but it's a tainted agreement. They don't always agree to go to sleep-away camp, either, or to spend the summer with wierd Aunt Sally. Kids have no power or control over their lives. It sucks to be a kid sometimes.)
Did you read about the show here in the US where they took a bunch of kids from 10 - 16 and had them live all by themselves in a deserted town? They had to fend for themselves for 6 weeks without any grownups or supervision. Talk about exploitative!
So... Yeah. Not BBC's finest hour. or the American version's, either.
no subject
- Nearly all abortions are performed at 8-9 weeks.
- Fetus viability, that is, the age at which a fetus could live outside the womb is about 28 weeks. With extreme measures, it might be as early as 24 weeks, but usually not without severe problems.
- Genetic tests such as for Downs and Tay-Sachs are done at 17 weeks.
- In the US, there was a lot of media sensationalization of the so-called "partial-birth abortion," a late-term abortion. In reality, these kinds of abortions happen extremely rarely. The most common situation in which a late-term abortion is sought is when the fetus turns out to be anacelaphatic (sp?). This means there is no brain in the skull, a (fortunately) very rare but hard to detect genetic condition. The law is in place not because these are common, but to allow them in these extreme cases.
- His assumption is that, in Denmark as in the US, the vast majority of abortions would also be done very early on. He assumes that the law has been changed to allow for getting the results of genetic testing back. There are many cases where this testing, done at 17 or 18 weeks, reveals genetic abnormalities. The fetus at this point is still two and a half months away from being viable. Moving the legal limit at which abortions can be performed to allow for responding to genetic tests does *not* result in more or the routine abortions being performed at later times.
I wonder if your local gynocologist would have a similar reaction. It might be interesting to see if your doctor agrees with this reaction.
As far as the TV show, I had read of this. I don't remember if there's a US version that I'd read about. I was wondering who volunteers their baby for something like this. I can't imagine doing so. Then again, one commenter on the site said it was like having a teenager baby-sit, but with cameras and experts watching non-stop. I'm divided about this.
I think it's absolutely exploitative, but then all these shows are. Might it be of some value, a reality check to teens who think being a parent is as easy as it seems on TV? Maybe. I would have to know more. How long do the babies stay with the teen families? Then they get toddlers. One week with an average toddler should be enough to lower the teenage birth-rate by 10 points!
By the time the teens have a ten-year-old, I feel sorrier for the teen parents than the ten-year old. Well... I'm being a little bit sarcastic here. But I don't think a withdrawn, sensitive child would be allowed into a situation like this. Also, ten year olds can speak up for themselves. And most of them have gone through some pretty tough times at school and sleep-away camp.
These teens know they're being watched and are trying to do a good job. I find it scarier to think of all the twisted grownups who have kids, that never should be allowed to. When no one's watching and the grownups set the reality, some really nasty and wicked stuff goes on all too often.
At the same time, all these shows are horrible, as far as I'm concerned. They're exploitative and I don't know why people volunterily put themselves in these situations. (That's another reason why this show is so bad, isn't it -- the babies can't volunteer, and the kids are under their parents' influence. They may agree, but it's a tainted agreement. They don't always agree to go to sleep-away camp, either, or to spend the summer with wierd Aunt Sally. Kids have no power or control over their lives. It sucks to be a kid sometimes.)
Did you read about the show here in the US where they took a bunch of kids from 10 - 16 and had them live all by themselves in a deserted town? They had to fend for themselves for 6 weeks without any grownups or supervision. Talk about exploitative!
So... Yeah. Not BBC's finest hour. or the American version's, either.
Well, just my reaction. :)