It’s no longer new news.  By now, I’m sure most of you have heard about Baby Storm, the Canadian child born to parents David Stocker and Kathy Witterick who have chosen to keep the gender of Baby Storm a secret to all except their doctors and immediate family. They decided they would allow Storm to choose it’s own gender instead of giving in to the stereotypes of pink and blue, girl and boy.

I was surprised to see that when I googled “baby no gender” more results were generated than just those pertaining to Baby Storm.  Apparently, a Swedish family practiced the same notion in 2009 on Baby Pop.  Baby Pop had it’s gender concealed based on the idea that “was rooted in the feminist philosophy that gender is a social construction” (1).

This experiment completely contradicts the argument that homosexuality is “not a choice”.  While gender and sexual orientation are two very different things, people have made the argument that they feel they should have been born a male when they are actually a female, and vis versa.  These experiments make an utter mockery of the idea that people are born with inherent desires and inclinations.

Furthermore, this isn’t a choice.  The parents of Baby Storm stated that “parents make too many choice for their children” and it’s “obnoxious”.  Pardon me, but choosing a gender is not a choice.  God (or the universe, if you’re going to argue that route) gave us specific equipment to differentiate us from the opposite sex.  There is no changing that, it’s not up for debate, and it certainly isn’t something that can be chosen or determined later on in life. (Ya get what’cha get, and ya don’t pitch a fit!).

I also have to wonder at what point these parents thought it would be a good idea to experiment on their own child? And what happens when this child goes to day care or school? Are they going to ban preschool workers from changing diapers or helping with bathroom duties so as not to reveal the gender of Baby Storm? And who’s to say that a child won’t wonder what gender these children are “check” for themselves?  And at what point will they allow Baby Storm to outwardly be who he or she is going to be? I also have to wonder at what age will they demand this baby make a choice? Surely they cannot go through grade school without some sort of determination.

The bottom line: These parents are using this experiment to make a mockery out of both science and beliefs and its’ at the expense of exploiting their own child.

Sources:
1)Article on Baby Pop of Sweden http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623/
2) Article on Baby Storm of Canada http://abcnews.go.com/Health/baby-storm-raised-genderless-gender-dangerous-experiment-child/story?id=13693760