The Deepest Cut
I have debated with myself for weeks whether or not I should address this issue, and ultimately decided that I was willing to crack a few eggs to make an omelet. Still, it is with a heavy heart that I even approach this subject because of all the painful implications.
For years, plastic surgery was either a luxury of the rich or a necessity of those suffering from trauma or birth deformities. Now, it's called optional cosmetic surgery and people of all ages, and economic structures are flocking to their local plastic surgeon expecting to fix what they don't like about themselves.
Make no mistake, I'm not against plastic surgery as a whole, I could use a nip and tuck here and there. But, I believe that cosmetic surgery is really an option reserved for an adult. I don't think it's an especially grand idea to take a teenage girl who has low self-esteem in for breast implants, or a teenage boy who has acne scars. Surely, waiting a couple of years, when they can make an adult decision, with adult consequences wouldn't hurt, right?
All that aside, I have a real problem with parents who take a child with Down Syndrome to a surgeon with the hopes of making them look "more normal". First of all, "normal" is a relative term when is comes to Down Syndrome since most kids tend to look like their other family members anyway, so what's abnormal about that? Normal is a word that parents brandish about in place of "less embarrassing". For the record, I don't happen to use any particular word. My daughter is my daughter, period. She has Down Syndrome, period. My older daughter isn't weird, normal or anything else, for that matter.
These same parents claim to love their child unconditionally and yet, are willing to subject their children to pain and suffering in an attempt to cover up the fact that their child indeed has Down Syndrome. I have heard these parents say that they are just trying help their child to "fit in" and spare them the pain and humiliation of being teased.
Pardon me while I turn dumb for a minute but, how does it help a child with learning disabilities to know that their parents' were so ashamed of they way they look that they were willing to spend thousands of dollars to change it? How, pray tell does it help this child when they are teased at school for being "dumb" when other children can't readily recognize that this child even has Down Syndrome? Adults with Down Syndrome often struggle with depression and it's staggering to think the kind of emotional turmoil these children will face when they become adults.
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