Once upon a time, there was a very fine New Zealand-born surgeon called Archibald Mc-Indoe who became a renowned pioneer in the field of reconstructive plastic surgery.
Dr McIndoe especially felt the need to help RAF pilots whose faces (and bodies) had suffered dreadful burns and damage in wartime combat. The French had had a tradition of recognising a special category of combatant known as “the broken-faced ones” – les casses-gueules – but it took this Kiwi doctor to make the big strides in plastic surgery in the 1940s, rebuilding the victims’ appearances, and encouraging their confidence in re-engaging socially with the world.
McIndoe died in 1960 – and a statue to him was erected in East Grinstead in 2014.
Then, as time passed, the techniques of plastic surgery began to gain much wider application. Eventually, surgery with an urgent medical and humanitarian purpose expanded into another field – that of cosmetic enhancement.
Plastic surgery today embraces not just the reconstruction of bodily parts after accident or illness, but also the greater preservation of youthful looks for more non-urgent reasons. Almost any celebrity you see on the screen who looks amazingly youthful for her 60, 70 or maybe 80 years – and it will usually be a “her” – will have benefited from “work” on her appearance via cosmetic surgery.
Who am I to judge? I had a touch of Botox myself some years ago to diminish the frown lines on my forehead – my excuse was that I didn’t want to look like a crosspatch. But it is an undoubted fact that what was pioneered for medical reasons has been widely expanded for a less exalted purpose.
The latest breakthrough in “gene editing” of embryos announced in Nature is hailed as an important scientific achievement, because it is likely to lead to “editing out” genetic disorders occurring in a mutant gene – such as cystic fibrosis. Who wouldn’t want to spare the suffering of a child, or parents, from such an affliction? The healing of maladies is a repeated theme in the New Testament.
But whatever safeguards are put in place it is simply inevitable that such measures will lead to “designer babies”. Because that is what we do. First we correct, then we prevent, then we eliminate, then we reach for our proud ideal of beauty or perfection.
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The NHS is cutting back on IVF treatment at some hospitals for those over 35. This is considered to be extremely unfair. Catholics will, of course, have our own objections to IVF, but there is another point here. Surely the NHS should promote the medical advice which has even been given (frequently) by IVF expert Lord Winston: “Have babies younger.”
Many of the problems arising with infertility are linked with this medical fact: fertility in women peaks at the age of 23, and gradually reduces after that.
We know there are economic difficulties for young couples hoping to start a family – notably, problems with getting on that “housing ladder”. This is something that should be urgently addressed by any political party claiming to be family-friendly.
Yet the over-emphasis on “choice” in child-bearing has been so misleading. Fertility is a “window” of opportunity – not an endless “choice”. Time ebbs away and erodes all choices. I have known couples so desperate to conceive that they have gone through three, four, even five cycles of IVF, sometimes at their own expense. Infertility isn’t always down to age, but statistically, there is a link. Sex education should include this basic knowledge about nature’s cycles. If we are still allowed, that is, to mention the role that nature plays in biology.
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I listened to a sermon in German last Sunday, attending Mass at a beautiful baroque church in the picturesque Black Forest area.
I followed the somewhat lengthy discourse as best I could, but it did prompt the thought that homilies should seldom be longer than 10 to 12 minutes.
The Twitter age may have reduced many people’s concentration span: but on the plus side, tweets can also demonstrate the skill in transmitting an idea or concept pithily.
With respect, I feel this point should be made to preaching pastors. Be wise, be knowledgeable, be witty – and be pithy! Brevity often makes a bigger impact than duration. Especially in German.
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