Mary And Abraham Ayala's Moral Dilemma

At first glance, one would consider the desires of the Ayala family heroic, but however, each decision incorporates various moral issues which must be considered. Mary and Abraham Ayala’s plan to save their daughter’s life by conceiving a child to be a potential donor is a complicated issue to examine. When attempting to consider moral dilemmas, one must understand the effects decisions may have on human flourishing and human dignity. Human flourishing, the capacity to attain self-actualization and fulfillment in society, and human dignity, the inherent rights to be valued and treated ethically, propel each moral issue into consideration. The problems the Ayalas face stem from the desire of Anissa’s parents to help Anissa achieve full human

Each person has a right to control what happens to their body, including being a donor. At a certain age, children are included in the conversation of the child becoming a donor. If Mary and Abe’s potential child was born and a bone marrow match for Anissa, the doctors would inject needles, cause pain, and extract the bone marrow. Bone marrow donations are considered very invasive and should potentially require consent. However, a baby is unable to give consent, and therefore, the parents act as the intermediate to the doctors and give consent for the donation. As the parents of the child, the parents would seek to act for what is best for the child. When a child does not want a vaccination or to go to the dentist, the child refuses. However, the parents still force the child to receive the vaccination and go to the dentist because there are beneficial effects that come from the small amount of pain they will experience. A parent’s consent for a bone marrow donation of a potential child stems from similar reasoning. Even though the child will experience pain, Anissa’s life will potentially be saved by the donation and a greater good will be achieved. Also, the child will likely not remember the pain. In interviews with children who were donors at an early age, the children state they would have consented to donate to save a