Merrily Married Couples and Dying Babies

Question time ladies and folks. Please open up the spoiler to your respective gender and explain what choice you would make. Greatly appreciate it if you explained why you decided to make the decision.

[SIZE="6"]---[/SIZE]

[SIZE="3"]Ovaries[/SIZE]
[SIZE="2"]Section A[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

You are married to a wonderful husband who for all intensive purposes is Mr. Perfect. You are currently pregnant and have a baby girl in your womb. While you are driving your sporty Honda Odyssey you begin to feel woozy and almost get into a fatal car accident. Luckily your husband, Mr. Perfect, is in the shotgun seat and grabs a hold of the wheel, saving you from crashing into the opposing lane. You pull over to the side and you hear the wonderful sound of police sirens, your savior. The police believing that you are obviously drunk (you are not) asks you walk in a straight line. You attempt to walk but the wooziness hits you and you collapse on the floor. By the time you wake up, you discover you are in a hospital bed and are given the works (IV drips and blood bags galore!). The doctors come in and tell you that you have lung cancer. Here comes the fun part. The doctors offer you three choices. Please make a decision and offer a reason before moving on to the next section.

A) They can perform operation on you right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of you living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until you deliver the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of you living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on you and try to remove the baby early: Chance of you living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

[SIZE="2"]Section B[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

Your married husband insists that you choose choice A. He loves you and doesn't want to lose you no matter what. You love your husband. This man is amazing and makes you feel warm in all the wrong places. But you also love your child and don't want to sacrifice her in order for you to live. You also realize that you love your husband and it wouldn't be fair if you left him all alone in the world to raise your child. You are in critical condition and asked to reconsider your original decision.

A) They can perform operation on you right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of you living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until you deliver the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of you living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on you and try to remove the baby early: Chance of you living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

[SIZE="2"]Section C[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

A doctor on the team who has been taking care of you even after hospital hours has formed a close relationship with you. The doctor after much consideration decides to tell you that she has discovered that your husband has been in a previous marriage. The revelation shocks you as your husband had never disclosed being in a previous relationship. The doctor explains that the husband left the marriage shortly after his first wife delivered. The doctor offers to adopt your child if you do not survive the surgery, you are convinced that she will be a good caretaker. The doctor allows you to rethink your decision.

A) They can perform operation on you right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of you living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until you deliver the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of you living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on you and try to remove the baby early: Chance of you living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

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[SIZE="3"]Testicles[/SIZE]
[SIZE="2"]Section A[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

You are married to a wonderful wife who for all intensive purposes is Ms. Perfect. Not only does she have killer curves, a beautiful face, and a wonderful personality but she has your baby boy waiting to be born. You host a fantastic baby shower and drink a little champagne to celebrate. Because you drank a little alcohol, you are afraid that the Justice League of America might ticket you for a drink and drive (DUI). Taking the passenger's seat of your trendy Honda Odyssey you notice that your wife is getting woozy and swerves into the opposing lane. Just in the nick of time you grab a hold of the wheel, saving her from crashing into the opposing lane. Your wife presses the brakes and pulls the car over to the side. In celebration of your accomplishment, you hear the wonderful sound of police sirens as congratulations. The police believing that your wife is drunk (she is not) and asks her to walk in a straight line. You get out of the car in order to tell the cops that she is feeling sick and they shouldn't make her walk as she is pregnant but they tell you to get back in the car or else they will arrest you. Your wife attempts to walk but the wooziness hits her and she collapses on the street. In no time at all, emergency ambulances come in and ship you and your wife off to the nearest hospital. Your wife still has not regained consciousness and cannot make a decision about treatment options. The doctors come in and tell you that you that she has lung cancer. Due to the fact that is not awake you must make a decision on what type of surgery she should receive. The doctors offer you three choices. Please make a decision and offer a reason before moving on to the next section.

A) They can perform operation on her right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of her living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until she delivers the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of her living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on her and try to remove the baby early: Chance of her living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

[SIZE="2"]Section B[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

Your wife regains consciousness the day before surgery. She insists that you choose choice B because she wants the baby, your baby to live. She loves you but doesn't want to sacrifice her baby. Also when it comes to saving someone, your baby has the highest % to live in all three possibilities. It is the best choice when it comes to saving a life. You love your wife. This woman is amazing and makes you feel warm in all the wrong places. But you don't know whether it's better to respect her wishes or to possibly choose the riskier operation resulting in her dying. You can always have another child, but you can never have another wife. Your wife has fallen asleep again and the doctors have let you have primary responsibility over your wife's decision. You are asked one more time if you want to change to a different option.

A) They can perform operation on her right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of her living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until she delivers the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of her living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on her and try to remove the baby early: Chance of her living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

[SIZE="2"]Section C[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

A doctor on the team who has been through similar circumstance has formed a close relationship with you. The doctor after much consideration decides to tell you that he has discovered that your wife has been in a previous marriage. The revelation shocks you as your wife had never disclosed being in a previous relationship. The doctor explains that the wife left the marriage shortly after she miscarried her first child. This would be her second child and you would be her second husband. The doctor allows you to rethink your decision.

A) They can perform operation on her right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of her living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until she delivers the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of her living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on her and try to remove the baby early: Chance of her living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

C. Reason: Both of them would mean very much to me, so going with the choice that has the best chance at saving both their lives is the best option to me.

C. Reason: While I understand where my wife would be coming from and that she would live on through our child, if I had a choice I rather lose both of them rather than just one of them.

C. Reason: Same reasons as my first two answers. Though depending on if this actually happened to me in real life at the moment I could lean towards A. The fact is I am more likely to go for option C or A, because while I would love our child saving her life would be much more important than saving my child's life.

Section A: B. At least it's guaranteed one of them will live. The other two choices have quite a low probability.

Section B: B again! Lol. I can only have one kid with her genes.

Section C: B. Dammit, I thought she was Ms. Perfect, lol. More reason to have the baby live, but not her.

BBB, it have the highest chance for at least 1 person to live.

Section A-A-She is my wife and I love her, and would not have anyone else in the world, but the risk of losing her would affect me more than anything in the world, and we can always have another baby.

Section B-B-I had a hard time with this one. She pleads me to wait, and I agree because I do indeed love her. The baby is important as well, and she values it over her own life, which is a tough decision.

Section C-A-I realize that this woman is someone who I will ALWAYS love, regardless of her past life. I want here with me, and the baby as well, but we can try again.

(Male)
Section A: A. Making another baby is fairly easy, but finding another Ms Prefect is not.
Section B: A. My Ms Perfect would share a lot of philosophical beliefs, so I don't think I'd be put in that situation.
Section C: A. Not going to kill someone for keeping secrets.

A: B - Can't argue with an 80% survival rate for the baby. I know he'd be a good daddy.

B: C - After considering my husband's opinion, this seems like the most logical compromise. I have a 3x better chance of survival than in option B, and the baby has a 50/50 chance of making it.

C: A - I am a very petty woman and don't respond well to dishonesty. At this point I would most likely want the best chance of survival so I may strangle my husband if I survive.

Edit nvm, please delete

I think it's often a game of semantics and catch-phrases when heavily-loaded words like "abortion" is thrown out there. Often times we have a predisposition to the word but not the instances that incorporate it. Often time the instances are horrible cliched: "It's okay as long as she got raped!" I think it's interesting that testicles voted straight down the line with the same answer. It's fine if you have a pre-disposition to save your wife over your child. But the one thing that is perhaps not clearly evoked is the guilt that should be felt for making such a choice. Essentially even if your wife lives, it may be cost you the relationship as you betrayed her when she really wanted to have this baby. The exercise was partially a test on sympathy. Often times we are conceited by our own opinions that we allow them to supercede and take precedence over other people's choices. I find it interesting that people found "Ms. Perfect" as a type of treasure that should be coveted and is something that will last. Perhaps our greed overshadows our ability to perceive the inner fragility of other people. Or perhaps even if we can perceive inner fragility, our ego determines that analytical explanation to other people is not necessary. I think it's also interesting that some men have found Ms. Perfect to hold similar beliefs and opinions to their own. Perhaps indicating narcissism, immaturity, or instability therefore leading to the necessity to fantasize a clone personality in a feminine package.

Again I intentionally wrote the prompt to be contextual, leaving a lot of the situation to be visualized and considered by the individual. The fact that responses can be analyzed as well is perhaps something that is rarely done on these little feedback situations. I know going through Khoi's threads that there is little if any social interaction going on between intermittent posts. Most of it is singular and ignorant of the next. It is reminiscent of a data bank than a social interaction, perhaps due to the impersonal nature of the questionnaire having been cut out straight from a book or a statistical survey. It remains interesting as to why people feel the compulsory need to contribute to such threads when the nature is primarily impersonal or to be used as something possibly off-reference in the future as an ad-hominem attack on character. If I phrased the original thread to be "Abortion is bad" I wonder if I would get more responses. Perhaps the statistical percentages and the multiple spoilers intimidated people and gave off the impression as if they were taking a test. Perhaps the insinuated instance that there might be a "right answer" or "wrong" answer led to lack-luster explanations of why you get to play god and condemn one life while you save another. Perhaps the fact that you don't necessarily kill anyone "100%" or save someone "100%" leads to a lack of guilt or explanation in being expressed. Most instances in life hardly involve 100% chances as diseases like cancer are ravaging and have a low possibility of proper treatment. If you treat your wife for lung cancer, then how much longer will she have left? Is there enough time to have another child. Again we assume what we want to assume because it is part of who we are as people and a part of our personality / immaturity. The important part is to question those assumptions. Why do we assume that she'll still be healthy after cured? Is it because those medical dramas often cut off with the patient recovering, smiling, and having some classy wine with the rest of their family just in time for Thanksgiving. Or are there deeper reasons that we have experienced as individuals that make us individually unique that give us this personal bias when it comes down to decision making.

When it comes down to social interaction and human ingenuity, I am left with the impression that this is it. Two sentences to explain why you are killing your loved one or baby. I'm not really disillusioned. I'm just trying to illicit anger so I can actually have some type of emotional feedback. Perhaps I should expand on emotional attack tactics in order to try to dive for real responses, human responses. Or perhaps I should just give up.

I'm going to first say that I already screwed up the point of this questionaire by reading the whole thing before responding, even the section for females. I didn't read any of the responses yet though so I hope I didn't skew this too much. I was too idiotic to realize what was going on until I finished reading the entire first post. x_x

[SIZE="2"]Section A[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

You are married to a wonderful wife who for all intensive purposes is Ms. Perfect. Not only does she have killer curves, a beautiful face, and a wonderful personality but she has your baby boy waiting to be born. You host a fantastic baby shower and drink a little champagne to celebrate. Because you drank a little alcohol, you are afraid that the Justice League of America might ticket you for a drink and drive (DUI). Taking the passenger's seat of your trendy Honda Odyssey you notice that your wife is getting woozy and swerves into the opposing lane. Just in the nick of time you grab a hold of the wheel, saving her from crashing into the opposing lane. Your wife presses the brakes and pulls the car over to the side. In celebration of your accomplishment, you hear the wonderful sound of police sirens as congratulations. The police believing that your wife is drunk (she is not) and asks her to walk in a straight line. You get out of the car in order to tell the cops that she is feeling sick and they shouldn't make her walk as she is pregnant but they tell you to get back in the car or else they will arrest you. Your wife attempts to walk but the wooziness hits her and she collapses on the street. In no time at all, emergency ambulances come in and ship you and your wife off to the nearest hospital. Your wife still has not regained consciousness and cannot make a decision about treatment options. The doctors come in and tell you that you that she has lung cancer. Due to the fact that is not awake you must make a decision on what type of surgery she should receive. The doctors offer you three choices. Please make a decision and offer a reason before moving on to the next section.

A) They can perform operation on her right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of her living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until she delivers the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of her living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on her and try to remove the baby early: Chance of her living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

This is a really tough choice to make. I would say D: wait for her to wake up, but if the decision HAD to be from the above choices, I would choose C. The reason for this choice is that all choices for the wife are pretty low.

In A, 25% is really not enough to make a significant difference, even though it's 5x higher survival rate than choice B. In other words, 25% is still too low to put any real weight; she has little hope to live. Also, even if she does survive, since she has lung cancer, she wouldn't have much longer anyways. That and the fact that A also has an extremely high rate for the baby to die compared to the other two choices.

If we were purely speaking on statistical terms, I should choose B, because the combined rate of survival for the wife and baby is 85%. However, a 5% chance of survival for my wife means a 95% chance of her death, which to me means almost certain death. I really can't deal with the guilt of knowing I chose to kill her.

So I choose C, since it gives each person something in between the two extreme probabilities.

[SIZE="2"]Section B[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

Your wife regains consciousness the day before surgery. She insists that you choose choice B because she wants the baby, your baby to live. She loves you but doesn't want to sacrifice her baby. Also when it comes to saving someone, your baby has the highest % to live in all three possibilities. It is the best choice when it comes to saving a life. You love your wife. This woman is amazing and makes you feel warm in all the wrong places. But you don't know whether it's better to respect her wishes or to possibly choose the riskier operation resulting in her dying. You can always have another child, but you can never have another wife. Your wife has fallen asleep again and the doctors have let you have primary responsibility over your wife's decision. You are asked one more time if you want to change to a different option.

A) They can perform operation on her right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of her living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until she delivers the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of her living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on her and try to remove the baby early: Chance of her living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

If it were my wife's wish to choose B, then I would choose it. It would be awful to go with any other option at this point, because her chances of surviving in any of the choices is low anyway. If both her AND her baby dies, then I would be unable to forgive myself if I had changed choices, + she would die knowing I've unforgivably wronged her.

[SIZE="2"]Section C[/SIZE]

 Spoiler

A doctor on the team who has been through similar circumstance has formed a close relationship with you. The doctor after much consideration decides to tell you that he has discovered that your wife has been in a previous marriage. The revelation shocks you as your wife had never disclosed being in a previous relationship. The doctor explains that the wife left the marriage shortly after she miscarried her first child. This would be her second child and you would be her second husband. The doctor allows you to rethink your decision.

A) They can perform operation on her right now but will possibly kill the baby: Chance of her living 25% Chance of baby living 30%

B) They can wait until she delivers the baby and then perform the surgery: Chance of her living 5% Chance of baby living 80%

C) They can try to perform surgery on her and try to remove the baby early: Chance of her living 15% Chance of baby living 50%

I don't care if she had a previous relationship. Sure I would be shocked, but it would bear no relevance to my decision. I wouldn't abandon her even if the question were rephrased to state that she were cheating actually. My philosophy is "Fly freely but return to me."

Armed with this knowledge that her previous baby has passed, and the fact that she so desperately wants this baby to survive, I should have even more reason to stick with option B because what if she survives and the baby passes (by some odd fling of probability)? She feel even MORE hopeless than she was when her first baby passed. And it'd be my fault if I had switched decisions, especially if I had switched to A or back to C. At least if she does die after I stick with B, she will die knowing I respected her decision.

-----

Edit: I just read the other responses. I am thoroughly amused.

B in all sections for females.

80% survival is greater than even my best chance; a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It doesn't even have to do with parental instincts so much as the best chance for a less tragic ending. If I were in the same position and even a person I hated were the one with the 80% chance, I would gladly give them that chance. My life is of no greater value than anyone else, and nothing anyone does makes it right for me to decide that they should die so I have a greater chance at survival.

A:A: In the heat of the moment, I'm sure I would pick the best option for my wife to live. If my wife died and the baby survived, it would always remind me of her and I'm not sure if I would want that. The shock I'd feel of being an unmarried husband with a kid that reminds me of my dead wife who probably would have wanted to survive instead of her dumb baby would be terrible. I love my wife. I know my wife. I do not know this baby. If she's the perfect woman, then fertility isn't an issue, so more babies will be on the way. I would definitely pick her best chance of survival.

B:B: I would strongly try to advise her toward option A, but her body, her wishes. I would let her die knowing that she wanted the baby to survive and have me take care of it if she were insistent on it. The fact that she cares for her baby more than her own life is a bit morbid, but if I were in her situation I'd want to make the call too.

C:B: What an ass of a doctor. I trust my wife. I do not trust my doctor about my wife's relationships. He will not sway me.

A: A shes my wife and whatever gives her the best survivability is what I choose
B: B It'd be hard not to choose B here because its what she wants, but I'd definitely be pleading for her to change her choice to A, 30% is pretty good odds considering
C: If I haven't convinced my wife that A is the best option i have to go with B, her past relationships/fertility have nothing to do with the situation

Okay.. so it seems I'm a person who sticks to the decision. lol On the other hand, I just woke up, so I do warn you that my post is likely to be pretty messy.

Anyway, for section #1. Assessing myself, I realise my lung cancer is in an advanced stage if I can't even walk properly, much less, DRIVE properly. Which means, choosing B makes no sense. If I can't even walk properly, heavily depended on the hospital to live, it tells me that my life's about to come to an end. It makes no sense to attempt to try to save my life - the one that has the closest expiry date, over my child's life - the one whose expiry date depends on me. I would not impose unnecessary hospital bills on neither my husband nor my family to safe my own life, given that my chance of living is virtually no guarantee (besides, cancer comes back - which means another gamble that could mean my child grows up with little to no memory of her mother). On the other hand, keeping me alive means maintaining medication that could possibly harm the baby even if it were just a little. So with the knowledge that the current technology is well enough to maintain a premature baby, I would choose C - under the condition that they attempt to save the baby first, over my own. I won't even consider A - it is a selfish decision that makes almost no room for my baby. I'd hope that my husband has considered and embraced the fact that it's not likely I survive either scenarios.

For section #2, I'm not surprised to find this of my husband. I still insist on C with the same reasoning I've given above. And I'd urge him to take a look at the % chance of my living that pretty much tells me how bad a condition I'm in versus the baby's overall % chance.

Section #3. The past is the past. Unless he's cheating on me with his ex-wife still, it doesn't have anything to do with this situation or our marriage. I'd be surprised that I was never told but I wouldn't really act on it either. Honestly, I'm not sure why the doc gave me this to consider - it doesn't give me much reason to hang on to my life. If anything, I'm comforted with the thought that if my husband does not pull through, I have my family and this doctor who will take care of my child after I've gone. (I kinda wonder if the doctor is forging the relationship cuz she for whatever reason cannot have her own baby and plots to want mine instead...lol)


There're probably more things I'dve thought of more thoroughly when I'm more awake, so I think this is it for now o.O


Edit: Reading others' decisions above - especially swerve's post.. this is interesting. I personally wouldn't mind more of these scenario-type threads. Honestly though, I can't say I'm not surprised that the men has chosen what they have. I'm not sure if it was ever suggested that the lady insists on the baby though. But i'm done eating breakfast, breaktime's over. ciao for now. lol

BBB, it have the highest chance for at least 1 person to live.

This sums up what I was to say quite nicely.

C: I would try for the best chances for both my wife and my baby to live.
I would also fall into deep depression, but that's my own personal matter.

B OR C: I am terribly torn. I know she has a strong will to sacrifice herself for the baby, but I'm not sure if I have the will to let her. I'd love her, and I'd love the baby just as much, but I think I would be devastated at the thought of having to choose one or the other. Unable to choose, f'uck you niggers.

B OR C: Her past relationships don't mean anything. What happened in the past is the past, the only thing that matters is that she's here now. I think it'd be stupid and selfish to hold her to that as people make mistakes, and I'm not exempt. Same as Section B.
But I mean if she lives and plans to leave me because the baby dies, well then f'uck that's just wrong.

Also, this was on an episode of House, wasn't it?
I saw that. :B