Reply to Should people struggling with mental illness have children?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Eugenics is a venerable American tradition, but I am against it.

What an asinine question.[/quote]

I can't believe it took 5 pages to see a response like this, but it is a 100% the only correct response.

[/quote]

This is not eugenics in the traditional sense. They are not saying people should be forced not to have kids, just a general question of whether someone thinks it’s a good idea or not. The reality is that life is unfair, genetic heritability is real and family history matters. This is just one factor among many people should ideally consider when they decide whether to have kids and how many kids to have. [/quote]

First off, OP was not specific. You are interpreting OP's question one way but you could also interpret it as whether we, as a society, should allow people with mental illness to have children. We don't actually know what OP meant.

A number of the responses have definitely leaned toward eugenics, and I've actually found it shocking how many people seem to think that even relatively mild or well managed mental illness means you shouldn't have kids. Like the suggestion that a woman who experiences PPD shouldn't have any additional kids. PPD is insanely common! It's estimated that somewhere between 1 in 10 to 1 in 5 new moms has PPD symptoms. To say that none of those women should ever have a second child is bizarre to me, and I think also a real misunderstanding of what PPD is and how it works (and the degree to which it can be mitigated by simple things like supporting new moms and providing them basic mental healthcare).

Also it's all just absurd because I challenge you to find me a person who doesn't have ANY genetic predispositions for ANY mental health issues. Everyone has people in their family tree with mental health problems. Some mental health problems may not even be illness, so to speak, but could be normal presdispositions that have become maladaptive as society has changed (for instance anxiety may stem from survival instincts that helped prior generations of a family survive wars or mass migration or other dangerous conditions, but are ill-suited to a soft life with little physical danger).

It's just very complex and making blanket statements absolutely leads you in the direction of eugenics.[/quote]

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