Sharing - Parents Banned From Forcibly Sterilising Their Disabled Daughter

~ Posted on Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 9:00 AM ~

I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys as I'm very interested to know your thoughts on this. Do note that sharing this does not mean I agree or disagree with it. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:

The parents of an intellectually disabled woman who fear she is vulnerable to sexual advances that would likely result in pregnancy have been stopped from permanently and forcibly sterilising her. The parents of the 25-year-old woman, known as ZEH, said it would be in their daughter's best interest to become 'permanently infertile' and applied to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a guardianship order to have her fallopian tubes tied.

They told the tribunal that their daughter, who has a mild intellectual disability and relies heavily on her family, was easily influenced and believed she could be taken advantage of sexually given her 'friendly and trusting nature'. 'ZEH’s character and personality has evolved into a person who gravitates to anyone who has a smile or shows interest in her,' her parents told the tribunal. 'Unfortunately in this ever-changing world she can be exposed to potentially serious risks by being taken advantage of in a sexual manner.'

They noted an instance where someone touched ZEH inappropriately at a social activity some time ago, stating that this highlighted her inability to determine what is considered right or wrong when it comes to sexual activity.

ZEH, an accomplished athlete who holds a part time job, has trialled a combination of other contraceptives, including the Mirena IUD which unfortunately caused her 'significant hormonal side-effects'. She has been on the oral contraceptive pill since 2007 but her parents believe it may be causing her to experience headaches and dizziness, and claim that in the long-term could put her at risk of developing breast or cervical cancer.

Birth Control Pills

ZEH's sister, who has promised to take her in once her parents are unable to care for her, said she has no grasp on what is considered dangerous and recalled instances where she has seen her hug, smile or engage in conversation with strangers who have shown her kindness. 'This concerns me as she has no capacity to assess a person’s intentions whether good or bad,' she told the tribunal.

She said it would be 'preposterous' to think ZEH would be in a position to care for a child, or handle the hormonal and body changes that come with pregnancy. ZEH's sister said it would be 'selfish' to expect her or her parents to take care of a child that was a the result of an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy.

Psychologist Kerry Arrow spoke with ZEH about her parent's plan and found that she understood that they wanted her to have an operation to stop her falling pregnant. She said she is 'not able to look after a child' as she can not look after herself, but commented that she knew to take her contraceptive pill without prompting from her mother and was 'happy to do so'.

VCAT deputy president Genevieve Nihill said that while she believed ZEH's parents had the 'best of intentions', sterilisation was an invasive option that should only be used as a 'last resort'. Ms Nihill acknowledged the family's concerns that they would have to help ZEH raise the child if she did fall pregnant but stated that these issues did not relate to ZEH's best interests.

The guardianship order was denied.


What do you think?


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Breadmaker Recipe - Italian Breadsticks

~ Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 5:56 AM ~

It's been a long time since I shared any recipe that uses breadmaker. For this post, I am sharing another recipe I tried and tested, Italian Breadsticks.

Ingredients:
* 200ml room temp water
* 3 tbsp of olive oil (with extra for brushing later)
* 3 cups of bread flour
* 1.5 tsp of salt
* 1.5 tsp dried yeast
* optional for coating - poppy seed, chia seed, sea salt

Italian Breadsticks

Methods: 
* The key is to put in the liquid ingredients, followed by semi liquid and finally the dry ingredients. So add water follow by oil, flour, salt and finally yeast.
* Set the program to "Dough" function.
*  The bread maker will complete the task in 1.5 hours.
* Lightly oil 2 baking sheets and preheat oven to 200°C
* Once the dough is ready in 1.5 hours, take out the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface and punch down the dough. Roll into a rectangle and cut into long strips. Sizewise and lengthwise is really up to you to roll and flatten up.

Italian Breadsticks

* You may roll in the poppy seeds or chia seeds or sea salt if you like. Space well apart each sticks on the baking sheet. Lightly brush with olive oil and cover with clear film (plastic wrap) and leave in a wam place for 10-15 minutes.
* Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden, turning each sticks once. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Outcome:

Italian Breadsticks

Our kiddos love this! I actually think the breadsticks tasted like pizza dough, you know the crust part?

Awesome, I will try this again to make pizza base hehehe...

This recipe is definitely for keeps!

To view my other recipes, feel free to hop over to my Recipe Library page for more info!


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Fan Question - Fear of Water

~ Posted on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 7:34 AM ~

I received this question from a fan asking to post this anonymously. Do note that parenting is a life long journey, we learn on the job and nobody is perfect. Don't assume, bash or judge unless you are in the same shoes. Please refrain from bashing anyone and just share your thoughts and experiences, provide your positive and/or encouraging support, else, move along to the next post.

Fan Question

Hi! I really need some help! I have a 2 year old little boy and from the time he was born, he has been terrified of water. Now with that said it makes bath time super hard and I have try everything I can think of, like not giving him a bath but a shower which he hates just as much like he fights me, screams everything like you are trying to kill him, I have tried letting him take his cars in the shower with him which doesn't work. I have tried making up a song also doesn't work, I have tried making the shower look cool again don't work. I am just trying to find something that I haven't done already. If you could be of any help or have any advice I will take it. And no, he has not had any bad stuff happen around water. TIA

 

**** Disclaimer: I am NOT responsible for any comments/suggestions shared by others and may not have time to moderate all the comments, please trust your instincts and rely on common sense, research as much as you can on the suggestions you've been given before implementing it. I will add the helpful responses received from the FB post thread into this post for future references.