An issue

Tks Dev! :)

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Originally Posted by Sandeep

How about Outsourcing surrogate pregnancy. :roll:
Could be a real good business as many western women wouldnt want to go through the troubles and pain of pregnancy.

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Well, even I donno wat emoticon to express here :huh:
But then, I guess their govts. wudn't like this to happen as they'd fear tat the Indian women who get to be the surrogate mothers of those babies wud later on claim parentage to them & use it as a basis to get a Visa to those countries! :P :lol:

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Originally Posted by Shakthiprabha

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Originally Posted by pavalamani pragasam

"also I feel it sounds cheap to use a woman as sumthin like a commercial 'baby-making machine'! " :clap:

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One of the very few times, where I COMPLETELY AGREE with PP MAAM.

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:shock: Hey tat was I who said tat! :roll:
Neways, doesn;t matter who says it, the point is it makes sense....! :)

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Babies are symbolisms of emotions and love a couple share with each other.
NOT JUST a symbol of MARRIAGE or for the want of HEIR.

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Exactly! If u can't reproduce a baby, y not adopt one, as I said, there r many available to adopt in our country, needing good homes; instead of simply increasing the population where its avoidable!
Or on 2nd thot, I'm guessing now tat maybe these couples r suspicious abt the background of adoptable babies, like ther may be illegitimate ones too among them, & so on.....

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Originally Posted by Shakthiprabha

:D :P

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Btw SP, if I might ask, y the :P icon??

From today's newspapers:

Americans try to stop gays from adopting.

Efforts to ban gays and lesbians from adopting children are emergin across the United States as a second front in the culture wars that began during the 2004 elections over same-sex marriage.

From the article,”Grey matters” in today’s Hindustan Times, Mumbai:

…Where I live there are many, perhaps three out of every five, who live by themselves, that is, just the husband and wife. Their children are for the most part abroad, or elsewhere in the country- usually doing reasonably well in their chosen profession. For the rest of their lives of these elderly couples, they will see relatively little of their sons and daughters; the occasional visit on a holiday, perhaps once a year, would be about it. The children aren’t the issue; the parents are. Inexorably, age takes them towards frailty and ill health. Inexorably, the frightening spectre of dependence first comes into vision, then begins to advance.

What happens then? It’s bad enough for these relatively affluent couples. For the not-so-affluent and for the poor in cities, it’s a nightmare that the old head into, a world that would make many horror stories read like “Alice in wonderland”. NGOs working with the old have, I understand, innumerable stories of the manner in which the old are treated when they are dependent on their children or relations, at times even when they are not financially dependent but need care because of infirmities. Physical violence is common; verbal abuse is a daily ordeal the old dependents have to endure. Above all the humiliation- their reductionto ceatures who are best not seen, and who cannot, in some cases, even ask for any kind of help.

The situation is rapidly becoming even worse as the general age of the population increases; longevity brings with it mostly suffering and pain, physical and mental. In cities, the size of the apartments is, if one were to take a broad average, very small, perhaps two rooms, in which adult children and their families live with the old parents. As long as they can walk, the old can at least stay out for lengths of time, but again, age inevitably reduces that time, and they need more rest, and that means space. I’m not even going to mention any differences of opinion; that’s another world altogether.

What do we do with these old people? In a celebrated science-fiction film of the Seventies, “Soylent Green”, they had the option of going to beautifully appointed clinics where they were given luxurious death, with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony playing as they gently drifted into oblivion. They were all converted into food- recycled, more effectively than the manner in which we are asked to recycle our refuse today. By entering the food chain they actually solved two problems at once. But if this is not seen as a viable method of dealing with the old, (beating and starving them being preferred as more humane) then some other way has to be found, as the numbers of the old continue to increase.

In all fairness, it is not very easy for the sons and daughters who have to care for old parents. Leaving aside the affluent, it is a terrible effort to keep a job, or whatever employment they have, and then return to a small tenement and cope with growing children and parents who, like as not, are ailing. Nothing, naturally, can excuse ill treatment of the old, but there are instances where the old become querulous and demanding and that leads to ugly situations. Situations in which, inevitably, the old suffer.

But it is a problem and it will not do to paint the adult children as totally villainous. Small incomes, tiny apartments, growing children, growing responsibilities are all factors that compound the problem and make it difficult to get out of- in any easily perceived manner.

….Perhaps it’s time for us to think of an institution that, in earlier years, we considered one of the most distasteful features of western societies- old age homes. We need to accept the fact that he way the old have to live in many families is beginning to break family ties, and if the old were taken to places where they retained their dignity and were cared for, the ties of affection may well remain intact. Our planners need to factor this into our plansfor the social sector- and it would be wise to start doing it now. What may, on the face of it, appear to be cold, even cruel provision may, in time, actually restore the ceremony of innocence we are now in danger of losing.

pave, I think that some old people would actually choose to end their lives in this "luxurious death". I know I would rather die in peacefull surroundings than alone, or even worse, being beaten and abused by my "loved ones".

From today's 'Times of India, Mumbai':

Are you over 50? Come join the 'Sandwich Generation' club

London. People in their 50s and 60s have to shoulder so much responsibility taking care not only of their elderly parents, but also their own kids, that they have now been given a new name - The Sandwich Generation. A survey of more than 3,000 people by investment firm Clerical Medical, showed that though 50 and 60 year olds should ideally be thinking about a life of retirement, an increasing number are being 'sandwiched' between their aging parents and their kids, thus making it impossible for them to slow down and enjoy life.

When asked the impact of their responsibilities on their lives, a startling number revealed that they not only have to shelve holiday plans, but also move house, dip into their savings and refuse propmotions at work due to the amount of time and money needed by their elderly parents. Another ingredient adding to the sandwich is that people of this age group are also grandparents, who are constantly babysitting for their kids.

"Their elderly parents are in their 80s and 90s. They are goig to be still alive but they might be pretty frail. The things that used to kill people a generation ago no longer do. They are frail but far from dead," the Daily Mail quoted Mervyn Kohler from the charity Help the Aged, as saying.

The survey predicts that what will soon give emerge will be a 'five-generational living family' that will have grandparents in their 90s, parents in their 70s, children in their 50s, grandchildren in their 30s and newborn great-grandchildren. This means that people, who are already looking after their own children, will now have to find a way to support their own parents.

The bottom line: responsibilities, not retirement awaits even at the age of 65.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16988881/