Chris Kaposy, PhD
Associate Professor of Bioethics, Centre for Bioethics
Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland
Abstract: Down syndrome is a condition with a troubled history: institutionalization, medical neglect, and a present-day situation in which it is routinely targeted as an appropriate reason for ending a pregnancy. In this context, parents of children with Down syndrome have sought in various ways to expand the boundaries of “normal” to include their children. This presentation draws on the author’s new book, The Beautiful Unwanted: Down Syndrome in Myth, Memoir, and Bioethics to show how genetics and the biosciences contribute to this project of expanding the boundaries of “normal” so that previously stigmatized genetic conditions like Down syndrome can be included as a variation of normal.
Presented by the MetroHealth Center for Biomedical Ethics
Location and Address
Online