Ethics Case Study Sharon Duchesneau And Mccullough

1116 Words3 Pages

The case study regarding Sharon Duchesneau and Candace McCullough and their son Gauvin is a very complex scenario to try to analyze and figure out whether or not it was morally right for them to intentionally make their son born deaf. Deafness to some may be seen as a disability or handicap and to others may be seen as a cultural identity. There are a number of factors that are needed to determine whether it was morally justified what Gauvin’s parents had done. After reading the case study thoroughly and doing further research I have a strong opinion towards this situation and believe that it was morally wrong what Duchesneau and McCullough had done. In the case study, there were many issues that could have came into question when figuring …show more content…

I think what Gauvin’s parents decided to do was wrong for many reasons. First of all, intentionally making your own child come into this world with a disheartening disability is a terrible thing to do. And yes I do think that deafness is a handicap, rather than an enhancement. Having any disability is already an unfortunate thing, but it also comes with many obstacles. Someone with a disability, like deafness, will always struggle when it comes to things such as school, working, and making friends. They will struggle far more than “normal” people with no disability would. Also, I agree with Kant in which people have the right to freedom of choice. It 's unfair to Gauvin that his parents made the decision for him to be deaf for the rest of his life, and making sure he 's not able to do anything about it. I personally believe what Duchesneau and McCullough did demonstrated ethical egoism. They did what they did through self-interest. They didn 't look at the type of future Gauvin would have or the struggles he would go through, instead they were inconsiderate and only thought about themselves. Opponents may argue and say that it was morally justified what Duchesneau and McCullough had done. They argue that being deaf is not a handicap, but a cultural identity. The main argument that they use is that hearing parents, who have a deaf child, fit their child with hearing aids or cochlear implants is no different than deaf parents wishing to have a deaf child like themselves. I would argue back and say that these are two completely different scenarios. If your child is born deaf and you want to provide them with a hearing aid to help them hear you are not hurting them like you are if you intentionally want to make your child deaf. Using hearing aids and allowing them to hear is doing them a favor because they

Open Document