Cosmetic surgery for Down's

UPDATE 17 MARCH:

The Kirwans have each issued statements completely refuting this Daily Mail story, plus another that appeared in the Mail on Sunday. You can read them here. Dr Kirwan also wrote me an email, in  which he said: "This article by Amanda Cable infers that she had an interview with us prior to writing the March 10 piece. Neither I nor Chelsea has ever spoken to Amanda Cable. We never stated or implied the title.

"Ophelia is reported as living in Knightsbridge whereas the Mail commissioned her  photographs at her home in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. [..] We have never recommended or even considered cosmetic surgery for Ophelia. We are far more interested in her health, as well as her physical and mental development. Of course we love Ophelia as she is.

"The decision to have surgery on a child with congenital anomalies is a complex one taken between the parents and their surgeon. We should leave that decision to the individual family and their medical advisors to decide on its own merits. Reconstructive surgery for congenital anomalies of all kinds has improved the quality of life of millions of children. As a plastic surgeon I have spent my life correcting congenital deformities in the USA and in Third World countries, as part of charitable missions

"Please take the time to read our comments on Ophelia's website  as well as her diary which documents Ophelia's progress over the last 2 years and our emotions during that period.

"Lastly, Chelsea and I were assured that this was a mother daughter article for Mother's Day without any mention of me or plastic surgery. If we had known otherwise we would never have been a party to this shameful article which is a disservice to all individuals with disabilities and to the Down syndrome community in particular. We have always championed research into Down syndrome and that is why in the original article of March 2, Bonnie Estridge gives the names of the charities we support. Neither charity has any interest in cosmetic surgery but is primarily concerned with developmental progress and quality of life issues."

MY ORIGINAL POST READ:

I'm like a bus - no posts for ages and then loads come along at once. Anyway. Thanks to Jenny for sending me this article from the Daily Mail, about Chelsea Kirwan, a woman who thinks her daughter Ophelia, who has Down's, might benefit from plastic surgery when she is older, to minimise her characteristic Down's appearance (both are pictured).

It's all a bit speculative, since Ophelia is two and her parents wouldn't countenance surgery until she was 18, but it's an interesting subject and I'd like to know what you think of cosmetic surgery if your child has a "visible difference".

I'm not entirely against minor procedures - the removing of an extra digit, say, or the "correcting" of a droopy eyelid - but I find the pretence involved in major, face-altering  surgery pretty weird: the end result is to pretend a child doesn't have Down's (or whatever), when he or she just  does. What is the point? Who's being fooled? Do we not want our children to be accepted for what they are, rather than be temporarily accepted because they're in disguise - and then, horribly, possibly rejected when the truth comes out?

Or is this splitting hairs, and does being in favour of pinning back ears mean there's no argument against more invasive, complex surgery (and its attendant risks)? 

Comments

[Jaime]

Eyelid surgery in Sydney has become a common procedure for people with Down's. I dont think it's about hiding the fact that someone has this syndrome, it's more to help that person feel more comfortable with themselves. These people that suffer from Down's syndrome deserve to have a chance to look like everyone else, if that's a choice they have made for themselves.

[navi]

I can see a bit of it, it prevents those who don't know her from staring at her.

But then you look at all the parents of autistic kids who wish their child's disability was visible so people would understand... plastic surgery isn't really going to help...

I had major surgery to correct a fairly minor problem (though the correction makes it far less likely that I get arthritis when I'm older) - I was severely pigeon toed. I had my femur cut and turned outward when I was 10.

I noticed, in high school, how other people were prejudiced against people with minor in-toeing - they'd point them out to me - treated them different because of the minor physical difference - and then I'd point out to them they were putting down someone like me; the physical difference meant nothing - ie I was 'pretending' and used the truth to set people straight, to help them realize what they were doing... But then, my difference only caused my feet not to be straight, and not other symptoms...

[Agatha]

There is a family in the USA who blogged about their decision to have their daughter's Down's characteristics corrected through surgery. She had laser vision correction, her ears pinned back & some work on her protruding tongue. I cannot find the blog now, which is annoying as I think you'd find it fascinating.

[Sarah]

"Do we not want our children to be accepted for what they are, rather than be temporarily accepted because they're in disguise - and then, horribly, possibly rejected when the truth comes out?"

- I would absolutely agree. It does make me wonder though why people are repelled by the thought of plastic surgery in this case but to be perfectly ok with the major surgery involved in giving a cochlear implant to a 5 month old child. The child is deaf, a CI will not make it 'hearing'. CIs are not miracle cures and the sound quality experienced as a result is not as good as can be gained through the use of a hearing aid. Now we are seeing more and more cases of implantees reaching adulthood and realising they cannot 'pretend' to be hearing any more and that society should accept them for who they are - a proud Deaf individual - rather than trying to change themselves to fit in with society.