Responses to Memory Keeper’s Daughter
1. We all have family, cultural, educational, etc. legacies. What were David’s legacies and how did they impact his decision to give-up his daughter?
Familial connection: David grew up with a sister whom had a disability, that disability being a diseased and malformed heart. Upon seeing the unexpected second baby having been born with Down syndrome, David panics and refuses to let his wife shoulder the burdens he remembers his mother enduring. David Henry is a made up identity. David tries to run from his childhood by not correcting a typo on a college acceptance letter. Instead David takes this new name as an opportunity to start over and to “change the world”. Ironically David spends the rest of his…show more content… While people with Down syndrome may be relatively self-sufficient and hold jobs, there are still many things that they cannot do, especially on their own. Issues surrounding the decision of allowing a couple to marry include but are not limited to birth control, potential childcare, self-sufficiency (cooking for themselves, etc.), health care, transportation, money management, consistent employment and grocery/meal planning. In extremely rare situations, a person or couple with Down syndrome may live alone without support, but in many instances this is not the case. There is an added cost for people with Down syndrome to be provided with this…show more content… Marriage is a social construct, but as a result has become molded into our legal system. Marriage in the legal system allows spouses to have special privileges, particularly in life and death situations and recently, healthcare. Ethically a third-party cannot infringe upon this right. The decision in its entirety lies with the couple. However in the case of Down syndrome, while no one should have the authority to deny couples the right to marry, it is more of a collective and educational experience. The couple must fully recognize and understand the implications and responsibilities of marriage (as mentioned above) and accept them on their own only after being provided with unbiased and objective statistics. In some cases, a caseworker and various assessments may be required to determine if the couple fully understands their decision.
Emotional: Chances are if a parent, or professional, has given birth to a child they have recognized the power of loving another person more than they love themselves. A person with Down syndrome is no different in their ability to love another. All people of all shapes and sizes have married and fallen in love in the past; they will continue to do so in the future. Just because a person has Down syndrome does not mean they do not have the same emotional capacity as a person living without a disability—in fact, many people with
