Yeah, but where's the baby's rights to make the decisions on his/her own, not parents' ? I feel that the parents don't love deaf babies by changin' them to become hearing babies - I mean, how come they don't ACCEPT " deaf " the way the baby was born with ? I believe in NATURAL. When the baby understands the words or comprehend things around the baby as she/he gets older, then the parents can INTRODUCE this CI to her/him and ask questions about it."
Here we go again.......
Briefly, virtually every civilized society has recognized the rights of parents to make decisions on behalf of their children. Case law and common law in our judicial system has long recognized the fact that, with certain few exceptions, parents have the right to make decisions on behalf of their children by virtue of the very fact that they are children and cannot make mature and rational decisions. The law recognizes that parents will usually attempt to make decisions that are in the best interests of their children.
A cochlear implant does not change a child what it does is give them the opportunity to hear sounds that they are not able to hear because of their hearing loss. If you think that parents who have opted to give their children cochlear implants do not love their children then you are both ignorant and sadly mistaken and take that from a parent of a child who has a cochlear implant.
I and others who have chosen the implant for their children understand and accept the fact that our children are deaf and will always be deaf even after they have received their cochlear implants. What we do not accept is that there is only one way to raise a deaf child nor that there is anything wrong with giving a deaf child the opportunity to hear sounds and if possible understand speech.
You say being deaf is natural, well here is a question for you: my child was born hearing but lost her hearing at the age of 10 months due to meningitis. So what is "natural" for her? To be deaf or to be given the opportunity to hear the sounds that she was born being able to hear? Go ahead and answer that question.
As for waiting, the preponderence of research, studies and personal observations have clearly demonstrated that sooner a child is implanted after the onset of deafness the greater the probability of success with a cochlear implant. So your "wait until the child is older" argument is actually not in the best interest.
Finally, what I love the most about your position, and it is not new as it has been trotted out and disproven for almost 20 years, is the hypocrisy of your position. You only "care" about the child's rights when a parent chooses to implant their child but you have no concern whatsoever about the rights of a child whose parent chooses not to implant their child. Suddenly, you no longer "care" whether that child's rights have been violated. That is because unlike us parents, whose only concern is to act in the best interests of our children, you have an agenda.
Sorry, but you cannot have it both ways. If you support a parent's right to choose NOT to implant their child then you must support a parent's right to implant their child.