:.....Another troubling aspect of the treatment is that it exemplifies the extent to which pregnant women in our society are expected to sacrifice their own needs and wants to produce a perfect baby. Legitimate research on the long-term effects of prenatal dexamethasone exposure in children is still in early stages (with some indication that it may be linked to problems with cognitive development), but it has been established that many women taking dexamethasone suffer considerably, spending much of their pregnancy feeling sick. Still, our society expects pregnant women to do what medical experts say it takes to give birth to a perfect baby, and they are often blamed when something goes "wrong."
The scholars’ letter does argue that women should be fully informed of "risks they assume for themselves and on behalf of their future children," but the emphasis is clearly on the fetuses. Thus it does not question the unreasonable expectation that society places on pregnant women to be selfless incubator for their fetuses.
I oppose the dexamethasone treatment primarily because its goal – suppressing natural human variations that do not cause illness or pain – is suspect, and because it preserves a social and cultural environment that is inhospitable for people with intersex conditions. In particular, because women are typically advised to take dexamethasone when they have already given birth to an older child with CAH, I worry what the treatment would mean for the older child, especially if the child is an older sister. I am further concerned about the enormous pressure pregnant women are under to produce perfect babies, and the moral judgment that follows the birth of a child with disabilities or atypical physique....."
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