I guess you'd end up with those with more inherently stable personalitys coming to the fore, since they'd have to get through the "trauma" of adoption.

One other thing it might do is drop life expectancy, since from an evolutionary point of view there's no need for the biological mother/father to survive. However, people having children later in life should push this back up again.

Ah, Carter says we'll all be dead by then anyways, and that's the kind of thinking that's too odd to be untrue.

J~

Member of the league of vague gamers: www.vaguenet.com

The following has been suggested by one of the childfree forums as somewhere that will back up the societal pressure issue I have raised.

http://www.happilychildfree.com/index.htm

*EDIT* to remove the excessive bitchiness which came out because of the wine I'd drunk. Never post drunk folks.

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It is not a competition. It is a web forum.

As for societies pressure, I've just been asked (at my mum's 60th birthday) several times if/when I'm planning to have kids; All well natured, and half tongue-in-cheek, but still kinda odd.

Not really sure it counts as "pressure" per se, but it's the first time I've encountered it in 28 years on life. Hmmmm, interesting...

I feel pretty much the same way about your arguments, all you see to have done is attack other people's views, rather than substantiate your own.

Now imagine you were someone who definitely didnt want kids and you got that regularly? Start to feel like pressure, wouldnt it?

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It is not a competition. It is a web forum.

What about non life threatening conditions?

No one dies from facial disfigurement either, should we make burns victims pay for reconstructive surgery, or attempt provide aesthetically pleasing prosthetics (wooden pegs or crutches, served perfectly well for hundreds of years)?

What about Mental Health, should depressives simply be told to get on with it- we can give them drugs to take the edge off and save a fortune on counselling.

The problem is many medical issues are only "important" if they affect you or someone you care about- if we start "cherry picking" what the NHS should provide we'll lose all non emergency treatments.

What about Mental Health, should depressives simply be told to get on with it- we can give them drugs to take the edge off and save a fortune on counselling.quote]

Sorry, bad example- that's what we do already.

Facial reconstruction (as opposed to purely cosmetic) is done in the main part to repair accidental damage to an already extant person or used to repair birth defects which are either lifethreatening or a severe impediment to continued existence.  Very rarely is this surgery able to come near giving that person a 'normal' face without significant private funding.

Fertility treatment does not constitute surgery neccessary for the continued physical wellbeing of an extant person. Nor is it likely the person on whom this treatment is carried out will die without said treatment. Infact they are more at threat of life threatening complications if they have the treatment than if they don't.