Nose Job

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So I pose this hypothetical question is it legal for a parent who is not happy with their newborn's large nose to have cosmetic surgery on that newborn's nose to correct what the parent perceives as a flaw?


NOTE 1: Contrary to what some have assumed this is thread is not to make you laugh, or have fun I am indeed asking a serious ethical dilemma, basically do parents posses the right to have any surgery they want done to their child.

NOTE 2: I am not talking about parents having surgery done to fix birth defects, injuries etc. I am talking about parents who don't like their child's nose simply because it is a bit bigger than what they would like.

Last edited by philosopherBoi on 16 Feb 2009, 7:14 pm, edited 3 times in total.

It may be silly since an infant's nose changes as it grows but why illegal?

I suspect that it would be legal, I saw a doco on some idiots that wanted there Downs kid to look more normal and had PS done on him.

I need a nose job. My nose is shaped kinda like the number 6.

Vertically or horizontally?

ruveyn

Like this: 6

Of course, if nose jobs on babies become illegal, circumcision might require a baby to sign a document of consent.

AH AH all you have to is say that it is for religious reasons and you can get away with anything

Sounds like a great strategy for Madoff. Did he contribute to Israel?

Now there's an idea "but your honour ponzi schemes form part of our religious observance as revealed to me by the lord'

People be serious please because i feel like you have disrespected me by jacking my thread for your amusement and to be honest it hurts to feel disrespect so yeah please stop

The original post was a loud cry for humor. Don't be upset because you succeeded.

No my original post was very serious, I was not trying to be funny, or cut up, or amuse anyone I was asking about a real ethical problem. I suppose it was partly my fault which I apologize I didn't make it clear but none of you should have assumed I was joking either.

Legal and ethical are not always the same. To find out whether it's legal, ask a lawyer. I guess you are more concerned with whether it is ethical.

The parents' motive would make some difference to me. Do they want to correct the "flaw" for their own sake, or for the child's sake? Do they expect the child will be bullied, and psychologically harmed before growing up enough to make his or her own choice? If that expectation is justified, the parents would have good enough reason. If they are just worried about what the neighbours will say, which would be a concern about themselves being embarrassed, that would not be a good reason.

Similar reasoning applies to a large number of other procedures that are not strictly necessary for medical reasons. Should parents have a right to insist that a dentist fit braces to a child's teeth to correct their position if the child can eat? Kids with braces may get bullied, but what if the position of the teeth can't be corrected by the time they're teenagers and care about their looks? (I don't actually know whether braces have to be fitted early, I just don't remember seeing an adult who had them.)

My answer also depends on how severe the consequences are. The problem of what right parents have to choose for their children is similar, but greater when it comes to female genital mutilation, widely practiced in East Africa. Parents often claim they must do this, or their daughter will be unable to find a husband. I read of one case where a young woman resented her parents for not going along with the custom. The daughter really did have trouble finding a husband in a culture where many men assume that a woman who still has all her genitals must inevitably be promiscuous. I think female genital mutilation is very wrong, and parents have no right to impose that on their daughters. I only point out that the reasoning can be fundamentally similar.

I could have sworn you were posing a hypothetical question. But anyway, it is not hypothetical at all. Not only is it legal, it is done all the time. There are several non-profit organizations who provide free cosmedic surgery for infants and children with facial deformaties. Why do you consider your hypothetical situation an ethical 'problem'?

It's called cleft palate, and the parent was not an idiot for wanting it - people discriminate based on superficial physical traits, and kids who get their cleft palate closed surgically are treated differently and better adjusted. And it isn't just for Down's syndrome, although it is more common with those kids.