Altruistic Surrogacy Arrangements free essay sample

Couples around the world find out that they’re unable to conceive children. This is a very heart breaking and detrimental situation in anyones life who is trying to have a child. Infertility affects more than 7 million people in the United States, and about 12 percent of women of childbearing age are considered infertile. Most infertility cases are treated with drug or hormone therapies or surgery. However, about 3 percent of cases require more advanced techniques, such as surrogacy. A surrogate is a woman who carries a child for an individual or a couple. Stories of surrogacy reach back to the Bible with the story of Abraham, his wife, Sarah, and her handmaiden, Hagar. In this story, Sarah finds she is unable to conceive and arranges for Abraham to impregnate Hagar, who goes on to conceive Ishmael. There are two types of surrogacy options, one is traditional surrogacy and the other is gestational surrogacy. We will write a custom essay sample on Altruistic Surrogacy Arrangements or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A traditional surrogate is a woman who donates her own egg and then carries the pregnancy. The surrogates egg is fertilized through artificial insemination with the sperm of the father or a sperm donor. Traditional surrogates are genetically related to the child because their own eggs are used in the process. A gestational surrogate or also known as a gestational carrier, are not biologically or genetically related to the child she carries. Gestational carriers become pregnant through the process of in vitro fertilization, where an embryo or embryos created from the eggs and sperm of the intended parents. Donor eggs and donor sperm are selected by the intended parents are implanted in the uterus for the gestational period of 40 weeks. Intended parents and surrogates have to consider what type of surrogacy arrangement they feel like they are comfortable with. There are two common types of arrangements pertaining to surrogacy, which are commercial and altruistic. In commercial surrogacy the surrogate is paid for her time and effort, any travel involved and related medical expenses not covered by insurance. The chosen surrogate and the intended parents usually dont know each other before the arrangement. In altruistic surrogacy arrangements, the carrier sees no financial gain, and the arrangements are commonly made with relatives or friends of the intended parents. Surrogacy is against the Church’s teaching, they teach that techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the childs right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses right to become a father and a mother only through each other (Catechism). The use of a surrogate mother is a process that is thousands of years old. This is proven in the writings of the Bible in the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah, she was infertile. At this time in the earths history, a woman who was childless was often at times shamed by her family and friends. These women would offer their servants to act as a surrogate. The Bible does not specifically forbid the process of surrogacy. The question that you must ask is, whether it is considered to be moral or ethical with keeping children conceived out of love, born from a married couple. The Bible has also been interpreted as stating that children are a gift, not a right. Therefore, God will bless some people with children and others not. Personally I believe surrogacy is an â€Å"okay† practice. Surrogacy ultimately brings joy to the couple and why would god not want us to seek happiness. Surrogacy may seem to be defying God’s will but I think it’s a way of making a precious life out of a bad situation. Being told you will not be able to have your own children is a heart breaking situation. You would never know how it felt until you experience yourself. What gives us the right to judge someone else for wanting a child from their own DNA. If Surrogacy can use one embryo and not kill of the others I think it should be allowed in the church.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley Essays

The Wind That Shakes the Barley Essays The Wind That Shakes the Barley Essay The Wind That Shakes the Barley Essay Patrick Jannings Yr 12 KEYS HOUSE English assignment 3A Q. 4 Visual texts are always intertextual. Discuss this notion referring to your viewing experiences this year. Texts are never viewed in isolation as we always view it through the prism of our previous encounters. Producers of visual texts rely on the viewers experiences to consume themselves in the text. The famous writer Michel Foucault once said that â€Å"a text is caught up in a system of references to other books, other texts, other sentences: it is a node within a network† The concept of intertextuality has definitely been taken into account in the production of the films â€Å"the Wind that Shakes the Barley†. In order to understand how the producer conveys his meaning and themes you must first fully understand the methods of construction and how these convey attitudes and values. In film a producer may use technical, symbolic, audio or written codes to convey his meaning of the text. Lighting plays a major part in the film â€Å"The Wind † The Irish weather has a slight affect as it is very soft, humid and cloudy. In various scenes in the film very foggy and rainy weather was evident. A very natural and soft light was seen throughout the movie as much of it was filmed outside where high tech lightening is not nessecerly a true representation of the films setting. The natural lighting was used to great effect using the particular instance of the scene where five or six members of the IRA are pictured walking slowly toward the camera out of the mist. The midst creates an eerie feeling in the air and this technique is used to great effect. Shot types play an essential role in constructing the text. The techniques used stayed pretty much the same even on a large and more action driven story. It seems that there is a simple positioning of the camera that just seems to flow from scene to scene. Most of the shots are long shots. What I found particularly affective in the film was the odd shot on the spectacular landscape. These shots are very intertextual as the beauty of the landscape tells a story in itself. Costume can be used as a powerful symbolic tool. Clothing can represent the time in which the film was set and therefore the characters can be shaped by the clothes they wear. The costumes in the film featured natural colors such as greens, browns and blues. These colors are dull and seemed to match the surrounding environment and represent the native Irish community in a time of struggle and low prosperity. One clever technique used in the film was the placement of distinguishable features on the main characters and let the lesser characters blend in with each other with similar clothes. For example Damien was distinguishble by his waistcoat and his hat and it was quite easy to make an association between the two. The setting in the film is one that is remembered by everyone who views it. The Irish landscape is well known around the world for its rugged and mysterious beauty. There is a particular scene in the film which outlines this point very well. It is the scene where Damien and another five or six other local IRA members leading the traitors Chris and Sir John Hamilton to there execution. The magnificent backdrop of the rugged mountain landscape with the glassy flowing rivers in the valley really typifies the beauty of the Irish country. This conflict between the splendor of the backdrop and the cruel execution of the young boy creates almost an atmosphere in itself and results in the scene being one of the most defining in the film. It must be understood that all filming was done in a small town by the name of West Cork in Ireland. Producers chose this town because it contained many historic architectural features of the 1920’s. Most of the houses are stone and are of muted and soft color. This seemed to compliment the environment of the setting but in no way stand out or create a distraction. Almost all of the music in the film is of Irish heritage and this illustrates Ken Loach ambition to promote the Irish culture. Irish Songs such as Oro Se do Bheatha Bhaile typify the Irish spirit within the film as it was written by nationalist leader Padraig Pearse and focuses upon republican themes. The majority of the characters in the film were of Irish background. This meant they spoke with the profound Irish accent and added to the sense of realism in the film. Many of the extras were also Irish and displayed the dominant features of the culture. One of the most important aspects in a feature film is the role of the characters. Characters in any text convey their personal qualities through dialogue and action by which the reader or audience understands their thoughts, feelings, intentions and motives. Characters either remain stable in their attitudes throughout the film or undergo personal development and change, whether through a gradual process or a crisis but in any case they usually remain consistent in their basic nature. The main characters of the film are Damien and Teddy. Damien is a medical student at University College Cork who has just qualified. He has won a place in London to train as a doctor and the idea of going to London, to be away from all of the fighting, is hugely attractive to him. After the influence of this brother Teddy and other dramatic events he decides to join the IRA in a dangerous and violent fight for freedom. Teddy is the experienced fighter who is headstrong and a leader of the group. Damien looks up to Teddy and gives him the upmost respect. These two characters share a unique brotherly bond and it is when the Free State Agreement is put forward that changes things forever. Members of the IRA suddenly looked to Teddy for political leadership and he struggled to cope with this. Teddy was a man of action and looks at things in a simple and pragmatic way. Damien is more of a thinker and one more suited for philosophical debate. The roles of these two characters seem to be reversed by the end of the film. Damien is the one who becomes firm and headstrong and teddy becomes muddled up tin the politics of it all and in the end becomes a strong believer in nothing. The way in which these two characters have been transformed over the duration of the film catches the attention of the viewer. The brotherly relationship and the split in opinions is something in which many brothers can relate to. In conclusion, â€Å"The wind that shakes the barley† directed by Ken Loach is a highly intertextual film. It contains technical, symbolic, audio and written codes which all work together to convey the message the producer is trying to get through to the viewer. The message of the infact is simple. It is a story driven by as deep sense of duty and love for ones country. It is a story of a fight against the odds with the message that there is always compromise in victory or defeat. news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/entertainment/5026620. stm www. opendemocracy. net/arts-Film/loach

Performance Management Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Performance Management Paper - Essay Example The self-assessment process allows the organization to discern clearly its strengths and areas in which improvements can be made and culminates in planned improvement actions that are monitored for progress" (Bohigas and Heaton, 2000). EFQM Excellence Model aims to select and award a confirmation of high quality health care provision to institutions or services which achieved excellence. To apply for the EFQM, a health care service provides data of activities derived from its self-assessment according to EFQM's nine award assessment criteria. These nine award assessment criteria are as follows: "leadership, people, policy and strategy, partnership and resources, processes, people results, customer results, society results, and key performance results" (http://www.proveandimprove.org/new/tools/index.php). The use of the Model could be facilitated in small groups and even possible for one individual. Good rapport among the stakeholders will ease the process as each will be involved in some ways with the Model. To be effective, management and organization heads needs to be actively involved. As the staff becomes familiar with the system of the model, self-assessment against the Model can be completed very quickly - within days for a very basic assessment. It can also be used as a "diagnostic tool" because areas for action are given emphasis. With tWith the models varying approaches: "questionnaire, matrix chart, workshop, pro-forma, and quality award simulation", an organization can set up their own assessment to fit specific structure of the organization. For emphasis, the following statements from http://www.proveandimprove.org/new/tools/index.php will be cited. "A lot of the success of the model is in changing the way people think, looking for links between