How We Build Our Families Isn't A Building Code Issue

I never thought the opening of a would have any bearing on my life.

I’ve built my family and am concentrating on raising the kids I’ve got. Still, the controversy surrounding the clinic to be developed by Dr. Randy Morris in downtown resonates with me. 

While I had difficulty getting pregnant, I did eventually have a son without fertility treatments. In IVF, a number of embryos are created; only some are used. What to do with the remainder leaves many people deeply conflicted. Some people leave them frozen, paying for their storage year after year. Others donate them for adoption. Still others donate them for research. My father was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Stem cell research could provide a cure for Parkinson’s as well as numerous other diseases and conditions.

We didn’t even attempt pregnancy for our second child. Instead, we adopted a daughter. She was thirteen months old when we brought her home from China. My husband and I agree that adopting her was one of the two best things we’ve ever done together. The other was having our son. Our daughter doesn’t look like us, but there is no difference between how we feel about her and how we feel about our son. Yes, it is perfectly possible to love your adopted child as if she were your own, because she is.

Most of those protesting development of the clinic cited moral and religious grounds. Certainly the issues presented by IVF and other fertility treatments are tremendously complicated and present truly profound moral questions. Those opposing Dr. Morris’ clinic believe that emotions run so high around these issues that the clinic is sure to be the target of protests. Some even predict protests like the ones surrounding the opening of Planned Parenthood’s facility in Aurora. I suppose protests early on could be disruptive, but I drive by Planned Parenthood on a regular basis. I’ve never seen more than a handful of protestors.

Though lately I’m preaching to my son that getting pregnant is really easy and must be avoided at all costs, getting pregnant can be impossibly hard and even impossible for many. How we build our families—biologically, with assistance or through adoption—is a deeply personal decision. Certainly, our own religious and moral beliefs will guide our choices. But building a clinic is a civic issue and should be guided by building and zoning codes.