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Comment by lqet | Hacker News Reader

> "is it ethical to bring into the world ... "

That's the complicated part - when does "bring into the world" begin? For the parents (at least that is how we felt), this moment is often much, much closer to conception than to birth.

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at least that is how we felt Key Words. You plainly understand other people feel differently.

Indeed. I have read somewhere that until the 19th century, that moment was often months after birth. It was common to give the newborn away to a nurse if you could afford it until it had survived the first year, and only then accept it as part of the family. This way, the parents could safe themselves a bit from the excruciating pain of child loss.

Edit: This is e.g. mentioned in the German Wikipedia on Pox (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocken#16._bis_19._Jahrhundert), there is also a citation for it. I have read it several times during the last years, but don't have a better source, sorry.

Could you please provide a citation for this claim? It's fascinating if true, but I wonder which societies did this and what documentation there is for this practice. My understanding was that prior to the 20th century child mortality -- and mothers dying in childbirth -- were both common enough as to be practically mundane, or at least, as mundane as any death ever is.

Prior to 20th century? For my grandparents' generation it was common that about a third of their siblings died during their chilhood, mostly before one year old.

And I'm not so old ;)

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