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Text and illustration graphic ©Jay Hayes-Light. Any copying or publication without his written permission is strictly prohibited. |
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A hospital - somewhere in the "developed" world..... three adults are
sitting in a small room. The conversation appears to be rather heated and
one of the three - a large, overweight male jumps to his feet and stands
with his back to the window, blocking out the light as he berates a second
man who is sitting in front of him. A
rather nervous woman sits to one side, holding a handkerchief to her face
and gazing down at the floor.........
" Geez doc. can't you do nothin to sort the kid out, she's gonna be a freak if something's not done quick" " Mr & Mrs Durr (as in Duh) your child is only six days old, can we slow down on this ?" "Slow down doc. she's .... (we want a girl).... using that thing to pee with already, what if it gets bigger?" "It won't, for now, let's just take our time to really consider the options here." "We aint got time doc. My brother and his wife are due to visit, what the hell can we tell 'em? They are good church-goin' folks, they'll think we've been cursed. My mother's already on tablets for her nerves. Just DO somethin'." "Despite the obvious shock you have had, there is really no need to worry. Tests are being done as we speak. I think we'll find s/he is perfectly healthy, there is nothing life threatening and I must caution you against making hasty decisions. Let's just see how things work out." "I aint gettin' through to you doc. we want just one sex for our kid, not a pick 'n mix mess. How the hell can we sort out a name if we don't know which side it'll button its shirt? You surgeons can re-build anythin' nowadays, just a quick snip and she'll be sorted." "Actually, the outward signs that you refer to are not the full story. I came here today to spell out the details, just stop me if you are unsure of anything, anything at all. Your child has been born with what we call "ambiguous genitalia", s/he is perfectly healthy, but it appears from the first round of tests that the child has incomplete sexual organs of both sexes. This is relatively rare, but quite a few babies are born like this." "Holy cow doc., you tellin' us that it's got a double set of everythin'? We thought she just had a big doolah. What other extras has she got?" "The tests show that in all probability that your baby has both ovarian/testicular tissue. S/he may need surgery later when s/he decides what s/he is comfortable with. Counselling will be provided for you and the child if s/he needs it, but it's not compulsory." "COUNSELLING! We want more than shit counselling and who the hell cares what the kid thinks?. We want action. We have important decisions to make, like what colour to paint the nursery, what colour the layette should be and most important, what our friends & neighbours are gonna think of all this...... if you won't help, we'll find someone who will. You docs. are all the same, playin' God an all!" "Mr & Mrs Durr, please calm down, we have to talk this through. Any hasty decisions now will affect your child for life in all kinds of ways, physical AND mental. Let's not rush into anything. If we do WE are playing God." " MENTAL ....you saying the kid's mental? - that's it, we can't take her home then (shut up Martha, stop snivellin' you women are all the same....) a MENTAL kid with alien bits. We told everyone it was a girl, now when she plays out in the nuddy, folk'll think we swapped her for something else." "You are upsetting your wife, Mr Durr, and SWAPPING your child is exactly what you are proposing to do. If we take our time to come to a decision, your child will thank us later." "Well I don't want any thanks, I want a kid who can fill out a dress nicely when she's older and look after her old dad in his twilight years, not some freako who don't know which way to go on the dance floor. I'da been happy with a boy, what man wouldn't want a son? but we were told straight off she was a girl, we've set our hearts on that and you aint gonna stop us. That doolah gotta come off, now!" - "I am truly sorry you feel like this. As parents, you have certain rights, but your child has rights too. If you go ahead with this s/he will have to undergo unnecessary (in my opinion) surgery followed by long-term hormone therapy and possibly more surgery later. I am just a surgeon, but if I were a psychologist I would be advising you of the psychological damage all this could do. Yourchild is NOT mental, but this could harm him/her mentally." "We don't give a shit about your feelings on this doc. How do you know how we feel or what our kid would want? We've spoken to Doc. Hacker here at the hospital and he's willing to do the job. Says he does a lot of these "resinyments" or somethin. So we're off, thanks, but no thanks. We've already picked a name for her and had cards printed for our "Lauren", by the way, what's your first name doc, bet your parents had no problem sortin' out a name for you eh?" "If you are really interested Mr & Mrs Durr, my first name is James, but once upon a time it used to be 'Janet' - now if you'll excuse me, I have more patients to see. Come back if you change your minds, but sadly I really don't think you will...."
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This is a small version of Jay's illustration - to see the original in full size [65k] click on the graphic. |