|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 25 August 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Making a quick buck off birth defects Ground realities by Tharuka Dissanaike It is indeed rare for a newborn baby to begin earning money for her whole family. But in a not-so-strange story over the wire services a few days ago we learn of a little Cambodian girl, just a few days old and as yet unnamed, charging visitors money to see her. These visitors are not relatives sharing the parent's joy of a new family addition, but rather, curious on-lookers who want to get a glimpse of a rare birth defect that came with the baby. The little girl was born with an elongated spinal chord, which looks like a tail. The mother is quoted in the story saying that during pregnancy she dreamt of an old man prophecying that she would get a 'baby money' that would bring luck. And for the parents the prophecy has come true. Luck has already arrived. The exhibit baby earns as much as half a dollar per visitor, a considerable booty in the impoverished district where her parents live. This calls to mind a similar incident in Sri Lanka some time ago, when the media reported the cases of 'giant babies'. In the recent past there were at least two such cases, where unusual growth rates resulted in huge, overweight babies who became exhibits and money-spinners for their families. The first giant baby, who later succumbed to his deformity, came from a similar impoverished family in the North Central Province and was subjected to merciless scrutiny by hundreds of people who actually queued up to see the oversized baby and leave gifts of milk powder, baby food and money. The family was happy and did not see the ethical question of exposing a young child to this kind of public voyeurism, while making money out of a physical deformity that compromised the child's future. One could argue that in all these cases it so happens that the parents are poor. So poor, in fact that they cannot afford to cope with the child's abnormality without sufficient public support. Many of these stories are cries for help from families that cannot afford the food and medical care for such deformed children. But later the situation turns into a circus. Neither the parents nor the public act with responsibility towards the little baby, who is the center of attention. For the parents, the public interest is a godsend and a great moneymaking avenue that makes a drastic change to their impoverished lives. For the public, the child is just an interesting exhibit, like an unusual animal. Some members of the public may sympathise with the plight of the parents and donate money or goods for the child. But they all, after a while, forget the child and the baby's right to a normal life. By exposing the baby to continuous streams of staring people, the family is increasing the chances of infection and contamination. In Cambodia the little girl with the 'tail' is now being venerated as a deity of sorts, with people actually lighting incense sticks to her for good luck. In the case of our own 'giant' baby, many people wanted to touch and carry the baby- a very unhealthy exercise from the baby's point of view. But the parents allow incense sticks and petting to encourage more visitors. Their immediate feeling is privilege; not concern for the baby, its health or its future. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
