While researching my last article, I came across something that I found a little, well… disturbing.
It was about an advancement made in 3D printing, within the medical industry. No, it was not about printing 3D limbs. Or a new set of teeth. Or a replica heart to practice surgery on… I’m all for that. That is important, even life-saving tech. What caught my eye and almost made me spit out the perfectly good Single Malt I was drinking, was the fact that now mothers-to-be can have a 3D printed copy of their unborn fetus.
Say what!!??
Yes. You read that right. Yet-to-be-born babies can be scanned in utero and printed in the UK.
While some think it’s amazing, miraculous, even, I need to make it clear why this doesn’t sit well with me. Why?
It’s UNNATURAL. And it just ain’t right.
I understand that not everyone will have the same opinion. As usual, I don’t give a damn.
Having a 3D printed model of your baby is not the same as a printed photo of the ultrasound. An ultrasound is a grainy 2D sepia-toned image that you can post on your fridge and send to the grandparents… But this? This is something more sinister.
Some may say that it’s only a natural progression from 2D to 3D. Some might argue that it’s no different from a child having a doll and playing pretend.
I beg to differ.
This is about wanting to have an opinion on a person who doesn’t even exist yet. This is about wanting to know the unknowable… or rather, the “we-shouldn’t-be-able-to-knowable”.
And it ain’t right.
Fer Chrissakes… as we become more dependent on smartphones, GPS technology and IOT to go about our business on a daily basis, and Big Brother has us on camera most hours of the day, the womb might be the only place left to have a little privacy. Now they want to take THAT away too?
And it’s not a doll… a doll is just that – a toy.
A 3D printed model of a tiny person is different. Perhaps it’s the title of that article – “Now You Can Hold Your Baby Before it has Even Been Born” - that makes me cringe on top of everything else, but doesn’t that sound wrong, to you? Being able to hold your baby BEFORE it is born? Eew.
And speaking of children and dolls, what about the older siblings that were born before this tech and don’t have a 3D printed model of themselves? Will this make sibling jealousy worse? “Where’s the model of me, Mummy? Why isn’t there one of me? Do you love me less?” You know exactly what I’m talking about if you have kids.
Or employees.
Moral & Psychological Issues
And then there are the issues that arise when you think about the common sense questions that nobody wants to ask:
What if it’s ugly? Yeah… what if you think your baby is ugly? How will that make you feel? What if you don’t want to show the print to anyone because you’re ashamed of something that hasn’t even happened yet?
Please.
What if it looks more like an ex-boyfriend… or doesn’t look enough like the father, in his opinion?
Do we really want a spike in paternity tests because of this?
We all hope for the best, but we know that life loves to throw us curveballs. What happens when things don’t go according to plan? What if after printing your baby, you feel that there’s something wrong, maybe something the doctors missed, such as Down’s? Don’t shake your heads at me, there are several birth-diagnosed DS babies. Or what if you have a stillbirth? Would you still look at that 3D model of what “might have been,” the same way? Will it help the parents heal or will it just be a horrible reminder?
The Narcissism and lack of forethought is ASTONISHING!
Last but not least, I think the level of narcissism of it is what annoys me the most.
Trying to get a few months jump on the “oohs and ahhs” that come with parenthood by parading a 3D Print of your infant in front of friends and family, is a new level of Me-ism that I just can’t accept. Will you print out a teeny-tiny little selfie stick so that your baby can be just like you?
What is the point of printing out your baby? To ruin the surprise?
To reduce the miracle of life into a novelty?
Nice.
I was the kid who destroyed the house trying to find where my parents hid my Christmas presents, but I gotta tell you… I just don’t understand it.
If I find out you did this, I will mock you publicly and unapologetically.
Because it just ain’t right.
If you stop and think about it, I think you will realize that it’s a dangerous path to be on, and a terrible way to bring a human into the world.
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