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Ellen Painter Dollar

No Easy Choice

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Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

April 2015

April 22, 2015

“Why don’t you just adopt?” is the wrong question to ask infertile couples. Here’s why.

Besides making people feel defensive for experiencing the fundamentally human urge to conceive and bear...

October 2014

October 02, 2014

No Easy Choices When It Comes to Genetics, Disability, and Reproductive Decisions

TIME Magazine online picked up my post from earlier this week on whether a parent might...

July 2014

July 10, 2014

We’re Asking the Wrong Questions About Three-Parent Embryos

I’m not necessarily opposed to three-parent embryos. But I am opposed to sanctioning this technology,...

December 2013

December 17, 2013

Broken Ribs, Crooked Backs, & Seeing Our Vulnerable Selves Reflected in Another

Having a body that defies cultural norms as mine does (it is crooked, uneven, lumpy,...

November 2013

November 04, 2013

My Story, and My Take on Narrative Ethics, in a Nutshell

I have a cover article in the current issue of the Christian Century that summarizes the...

September 2013

September 20, 2013

[Snapshots from Oak Ridge] I Wrote a Book. Want One?

I will confess something that will be not at all surprising to most of you,...

July 2013

July 08, 2013

Resurrection Year: Learning to Live, and Thrive, with Life as It Is Given

Our Western cultural attitudes are not well-equipped for failure. We are a culture of optimists...

June 2013

June 18, 2013

Have One Child or Many, Just Don’t Plan on Getting What You Expect

Whether you choose to have one child or many, the children you end up with,...

May 2013

May 28, 2013

How Poverty Affects Vaccination Rates

Last fall I pointed blog readers to my colleague Rachel Stone's post on vaccination as...

May 02, 2013

Parents-to-Be Have More Choices Than Ever, But We Can’t Choose Our Way Out of Pain

Jennifer Gilmore’s story is enough to scare anyone away from open adoption. (It also provides...

March 2013

March 07, 2013

Bless Those Who Curse You (& Don’t Call Them Eugenicists, Moral Monsters, or Murderers)

A friend recently sent me an article written by an Australian man who has the...

January 2013

January 24, 2013

Things to Ponder Before Undergoing Prenatal Testing

My friend, colleague, and fellow Patheos blogger Amy Julia Becker has a new e-book titled...

January 18, 2013

Top 10 Posts of 2012

A colleague told me yesterday that my post on "Why I am a Christian Democrat"...

December 2012

December 21, 2012

Broken Bones, School Shootings, Divine Intentions, and Why We Suffer

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

December 14, 2012

A Whole New Way to Bring Home Baby

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

December 07, 2012

“We Have to Consider the Quality of Our Children”: IVF, a Nobel Prize, and Cultural Confusion Around Reproductive Ethics

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

November 2012

November 30, 2012

The Liminal Nature of Human Embryos, and How That Nature Complicates Reproductive Decisions

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

November 23, 2012

I Don’t Want to Be an Inspiration, I Just Want to Be Human

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I’m devoting Fridays from...

November 16, 2012

Which Story Do You Live By?

As the one-year anniversary of my book publication approaches in January, I'm devoting Fridays from...

November 15, 2012

Jewish Views on Reproductive Technology: Part 2

This is the second of two posts on Jewish perspectives on reproductive technology. I posted...

November 14, 2012

Jewish Views on Reproductive Technology: Part 1

Frequently, when discussing reproductive issues (abortion, repro tech, etc.) among Christians, Old Testament scriptures come...

October 2012

October 24, 2012

The Slippery Nature of Suffering: How Do We Decide What Makes Suffering Unbearable?

In Lois Lowry's novel The Giver, young Jonas knows nothing—absolutely nothing—about pain and suffering until...

October 20, 2012

On Going Viral

Well, this has been interesting. As of right now, my post on "Why I am...

August 2012

August 08, 2012

Does Prenatal Testing Equal Eugenics?

My colleague and friend Amy Julia Becker had an interesting conversation on her blog earlier...

July 2012

July 30, 2012

We Pushed Our Luck, and Got This Guy: Deciding to Have the Third Baby

(Editorial Note: I'm including an excerpt from my book below, so this is more an...

July 24, 2012

“No Easy Choice”: Driving People Nuts Since 2012

My favorite line in writer, reviewer, and all-around nice person LaVonne Neff's review of my...

July 18, 2012

Valuing Life, Preventing Suffering: A Central Tension in Genetic Screening for Disability

I'm attending and speaking at the 3rd annual Summer Institute on Theology and Disability, held...

May 2012

May 24, 2012

This is What Love Looks Like

A mother, mother-in-law, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother dies, and we gather. We walk through Ruby's...

May 15, 2012

Another Q&A on “No Easy Choice”

Yesterday, Sandra Glahn (co-author of several books on infertility with Dr. William Cutrer) featured a...

May 10, 2012

A Collection of Stories About Reproductive Technology

As Amy Julia Becker so eloquently wrote in her review of my book last week,...

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