Response to Your Gamete, Myself

As I read the Your Gamete, Myself article, I realized that I have many mixed emotions on the topics of things like sperm and egg donation as well adoption. I feel as if adoption is the healthiest and most logical choice for couples who are looking to become parents but are unable to do so on their own. I also feel that by adopting children, everyone involved in the situation wins. The adoptees get the child they always wanted or longed for but maybe were unable to have, and a needy child gets a home with loving parents who will raise and care for them. I feel that conceiving children artificially, in the long run only benefits the parents. The parents may get the child they have wanted or longed for but at what cost. Yes, it does cost a lot of money, but I am talking about an even greater cost. The donor of the egg is asked to take drugs whose side effects could require hospitalization and even in extremely rare instances, be fatal. For me, the whole idea of an egg donor just seems too unnatural. Another thing to consider is if and/or when to tell the child about how they were conceived. What if the child wants to meet their real mother or father and who gets to decide if they should be able to or not? I just think that the idea of having children artificially has the potential to create a lot of problems for not only the children but for the donor and recipients as well.

Facebook: Why I Love It Response

Matthew Greer

As I read the essay, Facebook: Why I Love It, I couldn’t help but find myself agreeing with most of, if not all of the things the author had to say about Facebook. While I understand why many skeptics of the site say too many people waste valuable time surfing around the site when they could be doing things like school work or exercising, I do see why many people value the conveniences the site has to offer. Facebook really allows for its users to catch up on and maintain their social lives without having to go and experience the hassles of things like awkward lunches and missed phone calls. With the click of a button, users can find and stay in touch with their long lost classmates and friends. Facebook also makes communication in long distance relationships much cheaper than previous means of communication. Now, users can Facebook instant message their friends, send them an inbox message, or post things on their walls, rather than having to pay a fee for something like a long distance phone call. Communicating in this way may seem less personal for some, but Facebook is simply offering us more options for means of communication.