No Easy Choice: A Story of Disability, Parenthood, and Faith in an Age of Advanced Reproduction - Softcover

Dollar, Ellen Painter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0664236901 ISBN 13: 9780664236908

Publisher: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2012

Synopsis

In No Easy Choice, Ellen Painter Dollar tells her gut-wrenching story of living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI)―a disabling genetic bone disorder that was passed down to her first child―and deciding whether to conceive a second child who would not have OI using assisted reproduction. Her story brings to light the ethical dilemmas surrounding advanced reproductive technologies. What do procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) say about how we define human worth? If we avoid such procedures, are we permitting the suffering of our children? How do we identify a "good life" in a consumer society that values appearance, success, health, and perfection?

Dollar considers multiple sides of the debate, refusing to accept the matter as simply black and white. Her book will help parents who want to understand and make good decisions about assisted reproduction, as well as those who support and counsel them, including pastors and medical professionals.

About this title

About the Author

Ellen Painter Dollar is a writer and mother of three living in West Hartford, Connecticut. She has written about faith, motherhood, and disability for a variety of organizations, publications, and blogs, including Christianity Today, the American Medical Association, the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, the Hartford Courant, and the Episcopal Cafe. She currently blogs at Patheos.com. Visit her Web site at www.ellenpainterdollar.com.

Edition details

• Publisher: Westminster/John Knox Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0664236901
• ISBN 13: 9780664236908
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200