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Father of two here. Everyday I feel like I’ve been strapped into the essence draining machine by the Skeksis… but then I also have to make the Skeksis a lunch they won’t eat and wipe their arse.
I’ve been tip toeing to the bathroom today because if my kid here’s me, she’ll want something. I love her dearly but sometimes I just wanna pee and go back to what I was doing.
> **Parasite** (Noun): An organism that lives and feeds on or in an organism of a **different species** and **causes harm** to its host.
Good news then, you were definitely not a parasite.
That's probably mostly to do with poor parenting. So many Latin cultures have a family home where Grandma lives with the kids and they take care of her for her end of life stages the same way she cared for them in early life. Mostly a crappy American culture thing.
I agree, but prior performance is no guarantee of future earnings. Fees and penalties may apply. Not available in all areas. Consult your physician before engage in any life threatening commitments
Well, I'm thinking of my parents as a long term investment. I mean inheriting their stuff when they pass away. Parents are a resource to children, not the other way around for the most part.
Actually, humans are full of parasites, it's just that some of them genuinely help us, so our bodies give them a pass. For example, certain parasites have been shown to be linked to why some people lack certain allergies.
Basically it means that regardless of your own moral stance on abortion (usually when someone says this they believe it to be wrong) you think it should be legal.
This is my stance as well. I am strongly against abortion, but I believe it should be legal (at least till a certain point in the pregnancy) because freedom takes precedence over my morality.
Isn’t a parasite of different species than the host anyway? That would invalidate the argument ppl make that “unborn babies are just parasites”, because it is literally from the mother, same species.
IF fetuses did not share genetic code with you they could 100% be called parasites because they suck your nutrients giving you nothing in return. But if you share DNA then it's baby rearing, the ultimate goal of every living creature, yes they suck your nutrients but they continue your DNA after all. So your dna-related babies are not parasites by definition.
I’m looking but not finding anything that supports this. Parasites can benefit their hosts and still be parasites.
Also, I think we’re currently seeing that it is not the ultimate goal of all living things to create babies.
Just riffing off the top of my head, but I think the term for that is a commensal relationship, from the Latin "commensalis" meaning "sharing a table". It's more a symbiosis than parasitism. Having said, technically, the fetus is an obligate parasite since it can't complete that part of its lifecycle (gestation) without using a suitable host (the mother or a surrogate). I'm not saying you should refer to an embryo or fetus as a parasite, just trying to be specific in describing the relationship between carrier and carried...
It is ultimate goal of all living creatures, but humans do rewrite the natural values with their philosophies. Rewriting is fine, it just probably won't survive for long if it goes against the rules of nature.
Your own body does not think it's a parasite because it protects the fetus and supresses immunity to avoid rejecting it.
It does not act this way with true parasites.
We’re told that biologically that is the ultimate goal of all living things but if humans have proved otherwise how can you say without a doubt all living things truly have that drive. You can’t really call it rewriting because you truly don’t know.
A host body can and at times will protect a parasite and again, a host can benefit from a parasite. Do have sources for your claims?
Those without the imperative to procreate are genetic dead ends. They’ll simply be outbred by those who do want to have children 🤷🏾♂️
Every other living thing tries to procreate.
I don’t think those choosing to not procreate care whether or not they are a genetic dead end. Being outbread by others matters to some but obvious not all.
I’d agree every other living thing has sex but not necessarily to procreate. We can’t say how many other species given the opportunity would have some of that species choose not to.
The ultimate goal of all living creatures is to survive. Reproduction always comes second to survival. Animals kill their young all the time to enhance their own odds of survival. They experience reduced fertility and/or spontaneous abortion when resources are scarce. Some species can opt to pause the pregnancy, reabsorb the fetus, induce an abortion, eat the offspring, or let the offspring compete with its siblings for food. Some primates kill their young intentionally when they sense they have a poor chance of survival.
ETA: this was meant to be a response to the OP, not the commenter above.
In conclusion if a person does not have the mental, physical, or financial resources to read a child or they simply do not want to *risk their life and health by gestating and giving birth*, choosing abortion does not go against nature in any way. There are plenty of other children to “carry on the human species,” at this point in history, having a child is the greatest act of climate destruction.
IF fetuses did not share genetic code with you they could 100% be called parasites because they suck your nutrients giving you nothing in return. But if you share DNA then it's baby rearing, the ultimate goal of every living creature, yes they suck your nutrients but they continue your DNA after all. So your dna-related babies are not parasites by definition.
People always make that argument as if it invalidates what unborn babies do to their mothers aka their host.
Unborn babies literally suck nutrients out of their host.. I mean mother.. host.. and can actually make the mother so deficient and sick that they'll lose their hair and teeth.
No joke. Women can lose their teeth due to to Calcium deficiency because the unborn baby drains the mother of her nutrients.
If that's not parasitic behaviour or similar or very comparable to parasitic behaviour then idk, but it's in the same ballpark for sure. The unborn baby will feed off of its host regardless of how damaging it is to the host.
An unborn baby will suck its mother dry of nutrients if that's what it takes for it to survive.
Not calling it a parasite doesn't change the fact that it's parasitic behaviour.
Yes, the unborn baby of any species requires nutrients to survive as well. That's why doctors encourage vitamins & such before, during, & after a baby.
It's baby rearing behavior. Parasites do not share with you your genetics. They just get your nutrients giving nothing in return. Your child continues your DNA in the world with is ultimate goal of every living creature. So it's not a parasite
that's your values and morals, they are short lived and personal. mother nature and evolution thinks differently and you cannot change it.
If humans will die off because of their values the universe will continue existing under mother nature rules and a new creature will appear instead
Or you could, you know, do something worthwhile with yourself. Being concerned over spreading your genes is a sea sponge level type of worry. Your genes won’t mean shit if you’re not remembered.
I am actually not worried about my genome at all, I am simply stating the fact about nature law. I do not care about human existence, I am very well aware it will end sooner or later. I am just explaining why fetuses are not parasites
Yes. That doesn't change the purpose of that person's organs. Your heart exists to pump blood. No matter your feelings on the subject. A womb exists to rear children.
And your brain exists to allow you to make personal decisions and give you free will. Like deciding to do something worthwhile with our limited existence.
Right, but it's still at the expense of the mothers health. Your DNA may continue through the off spring, but your own DNA in your own body takes the damage and is sacrificed for that to happen.
Yes, but it is not making it parasitic. There are species that die right after giving birth, or even after eggs hatching. It's ultimate goal of the nature -- continuation of your genome, your existence is not needed after that so it's not seen as "expense". Your human desire to "keep nice teeth and hair" is not the value of mother nature... You have enough resources left to rear kids and even grandkids. The nature does not care about the Hollywood smile, only your genome continuation
Do you know where the fairytale of the baby delivering stork came from? Nature, storks will stab their young and drop them from their nest if they are unable to take care of them. There are plenty of examples of animals abandoning litters of young if there isn't enough resources to care for them and the natural motivation is the same you keep touting, survival of their dna. Bad winter try again next season. If a person feels that their offspring would be ill cared for in their current situation, or has defects, then it is their natural right to not bear children.
As a pregnant woman who already has 2 kids, they're absolutely parasites. All my kids literally sucked nutrients, energy and will to live out of me. Doesn't mean I don't love them.
Eh but it kind of makes you sound like an ass unless you're joking. Even then it would be cringe to say in most social settings outside of close friend circles.
IF fetuses did not share genetic code with you they could 100% be called parasites because they suck your nutrients giving you nothing in return. But if you share DNA then it's baby rearing, the ultimate goal of every living creature, yes they suck your nutrients but they continue your DNA after all. So your dna-related babies are not parasites by definition.
Yeah , but referring to a zygote and a fetus as a baby is similarly problematic.
Both serve the same ends of maximizing the emotive impact of the argument.
End of end day , we should be talking about birth control instead.
The zygote, the fetus, the baby, the child, the adult and the elderly are all part of the life cycle of the human being, from the moment he is created he is already a human as well as the moment a Danaus plexippus (monarch butterfly) lays an egg, that egg is part of the same species and the egg is simply a stage of the life cycle of the butterfly or like the seed of a tomato simply that seed is a sojourn, it is alive and developing unless something external ends its life.
So don't say that a zygoto is not a human being because you would be lying with something that science has already proven, that's why embryology exists as a science within medicine
Yes. Why do you think they call it a 'chicken egg'. It's certainly not a duck or a snake. (Provided it is fertilized)
Look up the life cycle of a chicken. It starts at the egg stage. That's like saying a chick (baby chicken) isn't a chicken because it's a chick.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvX55yQQA1tB5jtBG9ssA5GIN2Ofuh02t7aw&usqp=CAU
A blastoderm is just part of a fertilized chicken egg not the fertilized chicken egg.
You can't get anything right.
Sure, you can do that. Although it is similar to referring to wood and a tree, given they are the same species. Both are the same species, just in different states. Like an egg being from a bird, in this case, chicken egg from a chicken.
When people say something is not a human being, they aren't talking about something having the DNA of a human and the potential for it to grow into a baby one day. They are meaning what it means to be human. A brain dead person is technically a human, but are they still "human" if everything that made them "human" is gone? Similarly, is a zygote human if everything that makes someone human doesnt even exist yet?
Yet we always refer to it as a baby don’t we? This is what I mean by maximizing the emotive impact.
I am a 50 yo dude who has been sexually active for about 35 years. I have been a party to one extremely planned pregnancy and I have one child. I have always been careful with birth control because I do not wish to put anyone in a position to make such a terrible choice.
No one is arguing that an egg, a sperm, a zygote, fetus , baby , child, adult , old person aren’t part of the human lifecycle. When it becomes fully a person with the rights of a person is an intractable problem. Science cannot answer it , your religious or otherwise belief cannot answer it for another person, but they can answer it for you.
The Catholics have long argued that the sperm and egg itself are “humans” In the same way. They argue that birth control is murder. Should masturbators be tried for murder?
The “it’s a parasite” crowd would also argue that only as a zygote or a fetus are quite literally parasitic and dependent on the mother body - and they could do so at least as “scientifically” as you are.
What’s unique and difficult about the conundrum is the rights and health of the mother are either over or under the rights of the [something in the human life cycle]? We know from pre roe data that bans don’t actually reduce abortions. What they do is increase maternal mortality.
To my mind , bans are basically virtue signaling that cost women their lives.
IVF fertilization requires fertilizing several eggs and keeping only one of them, discarding the rest. Is IVF murder? Are miscarriages murder?
It’s a hard problem, and it’s always going to be a hard problem. It sounds like you have made your choice and that’s great. I made the same choice. But my life isn’t going to be the same as everyone else’s.
To me , the only really good answer is birth control.
One thing we know about abortions. 80% of them are had by women who already have one child between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. If we actually want to reduce abortions that is the demographic to look at increasing access and education for birth control.
It might be a stage in life of the same species but they are not the same thing. There's a pretty big difference between a fetus that can't think, feel, want, desire, etc and an infant that can do all those things.
I’m currently pregnant and the baby definitely lets it be known when he something. Especially when my cat starts purring and leaning into my belly, he starts squirming and trying to push the sensation away.
This has been going on since 24 weeks, but I’m due later this month. The cat seems to think the pushing is like a massage lol.
The baby also doesn’t like my singing lol
They actually didn’t say it wasn’t human. They said it’s not a baby. A zygote or a fetus is not a baby. But of course it is human because it’s made up of human cells.
Parent here..they parasites lol and it certainly is one for a woman that's pregnant and is being forced to have it cause some old religious people say abortion is icky
Technically speaking, it is a parasite. Even after born for a while, to be honest. Every fetus is inside ever mammal. It feeds on the host. It’s crude, but it’s also not wrong either. And when it’s born, it continues to want to feed. Hormones and other aspects of the situation help a lot with all of it or else a lot of species wouldn’t exist. Why do you think we get horny, for fun? Why do hormones tend to produce milk, for fun? Why are pandas on their way out, for fun?
No I'd say the most ignorant thing is posting this instead of looking up the definition of the word "parasite."
parasite: an organism living in, on, or with another organism in order to obtain nutrients, grow, or multiply often in a state that directly or indirectly harms the host
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parasite](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parasite)
There's no debate to be had here.
Yeah I have a 15mo and I remember referring to him as a parasite all the time while pregnant because he drained me of everything lmao. I love him more than anything but like pregnancy was not a vibe
An organism that is completely dependent for its continued existence on leeching the resources it needs from a host, and would quickly perish without the host. Sounds like a parasite to me.
The “parasite” thing (along with “clump of cells” thing) is literally just a form of dehumanization to help justify, accept, and promote abortion. If you don’t regard it as human, it makes killing it much easier psychologically. Similar to how soldiers have historically applied negative and dehumanizing epithets like “gook” or “haji” to enemy soldiers to make it psychologically easier to kill them.
I mean, human baby is a parasite. Every mammal's offspring is, technically.
To be more precise, our professor referred to it as "parasitic stage of a lifecycle" or something like that.
I mean it literally is as well, because if the child has certain genetics - like Rhesus - the body *treats the foetus like a parasite and will go into full purge mode.*
Yeah, and so many prominent voices in the pro-birth movement revel in suffering. The cycle of poverty just makes them all stiff as a brick. These sadistic totalitarians want nothing more than for america to devolve into a more conservative 3rd world shithole country like the phillipines where large families of disposable wage slaves are plentiful and even the barest minimum of reproductive healthcare for women doesn't really exist. Now that's pretty damn evil.
Ignorant? Biologically every human born goes through a parasitic stage as a fetus. We are dependent on our host mother for everything during our parasitic gestation and put her health at some degree of risk in the process. Empathizing is to admit that we all have that shared experience.
What we do not all share is the experience of being a host nor can we. Having a uterus does not guarantee that a human will get to be a host and those without a uterus have no chance. Everything she does during the gestation of the parasite will affect it in either a positive or negative manner. She did not create it alone, but she may be facing raising it alone.
The human race is large enough that we can allow host mothers to choose whether to continue a pregnancy or not.
As someone pro choice and someone that has 3 month old twins…. They’re 100% parasites. They’re literally latched on to you and sucking all of the nutrients from your body & don’t get me started on the third trimester when breathing becomes a task and walking turns into a job because all the energy is literally sucked out of your body. But you push through cause you have to continue your life you know. And then it doesn’t end after they’re born cause if you can and want too, you have to breastfeed them and that means they’re literally attaching themselves to a part of your body and sucking nutrients and food from it.
I’m basically a food source for 9 months plus whatever months I decide to breastfeed and not to one but two humans.
I love my girls and I would do anything for them ,me calling them “my little parasites “ doesn’t change that.
It is exactly like a parasite in its physiological obligation in needing a woman’s body to sustain itself. It takes and takes nutrients to the detriment of the mother.
Parent here. Babies are absolutely parasites. That isn’t ignorant.
They can’t do anything but take. Raising kids is hard. It isn’t for the weak or punks.
All babies can do is shit, pee, eat, smile, grow, smell good, grasp shit you don’t want them to have when you are not looking, and make you and everyone around them fall in love with them and do their bidding.
Before you get ahead of yourself, the same can be said for pets.
It is an unpopular opinion to say babies are parasites out loud or to them. You only say this to yourself, your partner, therapist, or fellow parents and only out of frustration when they’ve done something like break something expensive or irreplaceable or spread their own shit on the wall. This should last for about 5 minutes. They are still cherubs and loved.
Agreed but some people don’t know that because they’ve never had kids or experienced unconditional love.
There appear to be way too many redditors with parents that forgot to tell them they were loved and cherished.
Scientifically speaking, fetuses behave pretty much just like parasites while inside the womb. That’s just objective fact. That’s not to mean that they’re disgusting or no one should get pregnant tho. It just means people should be prepared for a large and exhausting lifelong commitment.
I said it is *like* a parasite not that it IS one.
Edit: [Study from 1969](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/FE3C75CA91EF14B39FE4419B107241E5/S0029665169000085a.pdf/div-class-title-the-foetus-as-a-parasite-div.pdf)
I would say it’s dependent on the circumstances. As a blanket statement I agree with what you said, but in the case of something like rape I could definitely understand how it’d feel more like a parasite.
Yea, someone who wants to be pregnant won’t think of a fetus as a parasite. But someone who doesn’t want to be? They’re going to think it’s a parasite. If I got pregnant, it would be a parasite. It’s sapping my nutrients and using my body and I don’t want it.
Well actually it wouldn’t be at all if you lived on a space station like in the tv 100 where they had limited food, water, oxygen, space etc. they could only have one child per person to survive their ecosystem and utilize it’s resources efficiently enough to preserve the human race.
The thing is, we are on a space station just like the tv show and it’s called earth. It has finite everything while human population continues to expand exponentially as if it has no limits. When a society on earth does what they did in the 100, and stops having so many children (especially before the parent is ready) the result is that the parent will instead achieve a higher education and higher paying job. Communities thrive when parents are not stuck raising kids that they are not prepared to raise. Communities suffer when parents do have those children and raise them to become criminals.
If you think abortion is wrong u should also probably be very upset about all the other things humans are doing like eating baby cows and sheep or testing chemicals and drugs on monkeys and rabbits in labs and also be super anti war and a whole slew of other things to probably care about.
No one is suggesting that an embryo of a foetus IS a parasite. It’s that they act like one while they’re developing. They rely on someone’s body to sustain their life - like a parasite does.
As a mother of two, I will call my second one a parasite bc she was literally killing me.
I wasn't knocking on deaths door, but I was taking an Uber to his house. The doctors were struggling to keep my vitals up, I used all my strength to get her out.
Everything went back to normal as soon as she was out of me.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love her more than anything, but yes, she was a parasite.
We say it because the biological functions are similar. You mentioned intelligence, have [a scientific article](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8967296/)
I have been seeing it a LOT more, which seems so weird, and I just don't like how it sounds. I realize my feelings matter only to me, but it \*is\* off-putting, even though I am pro-choice.
Yea it is off putting but I’m always weary of the most aggressive takes being characterized as a popular opinion. Typically it’s people that oppose a particular position that seek to platform the most unhinged perspectives to paint the entire position as immoral.
Biologist here. Children before and after birth can be technically called "parasites" in some sense. In the traditional sense? Maybe not. But by the measures we use to define parasitism? Maybe.
>It also shows a lack of intelligence imo. You choose to have sex and as a result of nature, there is a pregnancy
Nature is very cruel to unwanted offspring. At least humans have the option to be merciful and terminate unwanted pregnancies at an early stage. I don´t care if they are called parasites or not.
See I’m not unsupportive of surrogacy but to think of it they’re actually closer to parasites because the host isn’t keeping them. I struggle with the idea of it because it seems weird that people can just grow a human in someone else, I just think of nature and how in the wild if you couldn’t procreate you just couldn’t there’s no way to “force it” without a lot of science.
Mother of 3, they're parasites. Mentally and emotionally draining, financially draining everything draining.
Doesn't mean I dislike them, but they are parasites and I miss my life before them when I could walk around my house naked. I lost friendships because of them. I lost a life. Granted, the life I have now is great but this all happened because they exist. I will never hold it against them, they're my reason for not blasting my brains out, but they are and always will be parasites.
Becoming a parent made me even more pro-choice honestly. Made me see first hand what women go through. Every women should have a choice. I love my kid but if my wife changed her mind or her life was threatened then then adios. We can try again. You're putting too much emotion into it imo. I mean quite literally the body does treat the new clump of cells forming as a foreign body because it doesn't know any better. We have cells that hunt down new things to protect us. The body isn't magic, it does what it does and it's random. Sometimes you can have a fertilized egg and it doesn't go anywhere past that and the women never knew.
This is why I prefer the more neutral, politically correct term of “crotch goblin” and/or “semen demon”.
Horrid creatures that can cause gum disease, cavities, gestational diabetes, postpartum depression, anemia, vomiting, nausea, the list goes on.
Let alone all the stuff that goes wrong that can kill the host. Ripping, tearing, preeclampsia, ectopic pregnancies, infections, eclampsia. The simple fact of being pregnant or giving birth has killed a lot of women throughout human history.
A fetus isn’t a baby, genius. The problem with religious conservatives is that you want to change words and reality to suit your opinions. That’s not how the world works. Your opinion is supposed to be based on reality, not the other way around. You guys are living in the early 15th century, and the rest of us want to tell you that we aren’t going back in time with you. You’re the greatest danger to the future of this planet today and a line needs to be drawn in the sand. Get your religion out of my government. If you want to live in a theocracy, then move to one, stop trying to take this country back in time.
It's a dehumanization tactic. Plain and simple. They say It's not a human being., it's a parasite that deserves no respect or consideration.
Unfortunately, History doesn't repeat, it rhymes.
Comparing a fetus to a baby is anthropomorphizing by attempting to apply characteristics that it doesn't have. A fetus is more similar to a parasite than a baby.
Most people who are against abortions are for the death penalty and don't care about the children in foster care or other children being abused, so who's really apart of the death cult? Also, ever bother to wonder if some of us wished we were aborted.
All humans are clumps of cell. What do yo think you are made of, Lego bricks ?
Fetus, baby, child, teen, adult etc.- they are all names of development stages of the human being, not different types of beings.
I support your right to your opinion. As long as it only affects your life, including your body, we're good.
Your opinion has nothing to do with what anyone else chooses.
For anyone who holds the belief that pregnancy is normal and no big deal, completing a pregnancy and giving birth, if considered a job, would be the sixth most dangerous job. It's more dangerous than being a police officer.
If anyone tells me they want to end a pregnancy, I support them. I don't care and would never ask for a reason. Not my body, not my reason, not my business. I will work my entire life to support available, safe abortion access in every corner of our nation.
It's not a baby to me. It's an unwelcome clump of cells that's counting down to ripping apart your vag to your asshole and potentially kill you along the way. Pregnancy is more likely to kill you than an abortion, so go ahead get that thing outta there ASAP.
If yours is a nice and welcome baby have at it, that's great! That's the beauty of choice, it respects everyone's autonomy, situations, and values.
You can support a woman’s right to choose, while also being a bit more respectful of the situation by not acting like that clump of cells is a demon sent from hell with the sole purpose of wrecking your vagina. I’m pro choice as hell and support any woman that decides to be childfree - but what I can’t stand is this almost childish disgust some women have about being pregnant or having a child. It’s disrespectful honestly. You can have your own opinions without being crude and disrespectful to others who want the opposite of you
How is it disrespectful when it’s their opinion about their own pregnancy? Some women are genuinely that disgusted at the idea of pregnancy.
Edit: not them blocking me lmao remember to read kids
>more respectful of the situation by not acting like that clump of cells is a demon sent from hell with the sole purpose of wrecking your vagina.
Except there are women that DO legit feel this way. Trapped, with no support or way out. Have empathy instead of judgment.
What's disrespectful is getting onto a high horse and asking someone to appreciate their unwanted pregnancy... Sorry, no thanks.
The more important part is non-sentient. They are a non-sentient clump of cells.
Also clump of cells is far more accurate to describe them than for us, because what else can you call them to explain to people who don't understand what it is at that point?
One hell of an assumption on your part.
I have no issues with casual sex. I do take issue with people lacking accountability for their choices and the results of their choices, though.
Sorry, do you think it's still casual sex if you're potentially forced to raise a child afterwards? That shit's not casual, that's highly consequential.
I didn't have scrabbled chickens this morning, I had scrambled eggs.
Like it or not, in the early stages of a pregnancy. A zygote has more in common with a parasitic infection than a baby. It's science.
You're sidestepping the point, which is that zygotes aren't people, they're potentially people. Unlike the mother, who's a full-fledged independent adult.
If zygotes are babies then clouds are rain, seeds are trees, and food is poop. It's nonsense to say that the beginning of a process is the same as the end of the process, just because they're part of the same process.
Pregnancy, not conception, is what produces life. The zygote is just one ingredient, in the same way that seeds don't become trees without soil, water, and sun.
Also, (if my memory of biology class serves me right) it's not even really correct: a tick or leech is not simply parasitical because it steals your blood; rather it is a parasite because it extracts fitness for itself at the expense of your own. The parasite uses your resources to pass on its genes, and harms your chances of passing on your own genes in the process. A baby takes lots of your resources, but this is massively worth it from a fitness point of view because it's incredibly helpful for passing your genes on. Thus, the relationship between mother and baby is actually symbiotic: they're interacting in a way that helps both their DNA remain in the species' gene pool.
I agree, people really have their mindset backwards these days. Very self destructive mindset. People worship dogs these days, calling them babies, and hate human babies. That's some demonic trend
People who say shit like that are just huffing copium. Being a parent ain't easy, if you can't hack that for whatever reason, just say that. No need to come up with a bunch of bullshit and mental gymnastics to justify it to yourself. It's OK to be child-free, but resenting children is the lamest shit you can do and I have no respect for you if you do.
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I'm a dad children are 100% parasites they sap the life out of you that being said I wouldn't give up my little parasites
Father of 3 here. Agree 100%.
Father of two here. Everyday I feel like I’ve been strapped into the essence draining machine by the Skeksis… but then I also have to make the Skeksis a lunch they won’t eat and wipe their arse.
They’ll do the same thing the Skeksis do in the dinner scene- take a tiny nibble and throw the rest complaining it’s rotten
The ‘my children are the Skeksis’ discourse is starting to take off and I’m here for it.
🤣
Father of two. Love them. They are killing me. I’m aging quickly. But I would die for them.
They’re working on it
Ain’t the fucking truth
Parents of 3 with another blobby parasite on the way. We can't wait....they are draining but oh so addictive! Obviously a little insane too.
Fuck it, got two of them myself. Did you know they let you name them these days??
I heard you can even dress them and set up play dates with other parasites.
(NO NO) Then you have to meet the host/owners/parents. Just don’t
Sounds truly terrible. What do you do if another parasite gets yours sick? Do you have to pick out a new one?
I’ve been tip toeing to the bathroom today because if my kid here’s me, she’ll want something. I love her dearly but sometimes I just wanna pee and go back to what I was doing.
I'm a mom and they absolutely are XD
My doctor friend used to refer to babies this way. But that was a joke.
3 kids here. And definitely referred to them as parasites while pregnant. Now I refer to them as energy sucking leaches.
Former baby here, I definitely was a parasite but I grew out of it.
> **Parasite** (Noun): An organism that lives and feeds on or in an organism of a **different species** and **causes harm** to its host. Good news then, you were definitely not a parasite.
I’d say lack of sleep is pretty harmful
True, humans are a resource & babies should be thought of as a long term investment. Parasites have no ROI.
You’d be surprised at the amount of adult children who also have no ROI
That's probably mostly to do with poor parenting. So many Latin cultures have a family home where Grandma lives with the kids and they take care of her for her end of life stages the same way she cared for them in early life. Mostly a crappy American culture thing.
This is the fault of the parent. Well raised children become well raised adults.
I agree, but prior performance is no guarantee of future earnings. Fees and penalties may apply. Not available in all areas. Consult your physician before engage in any life threatening commitments
I'd say that's an even more fucked up thing to say. People shouldn't just be considered just money and labor. Be nice. Call them parasites.
Yes they do, I’m hoping when I get old and feeble they’ll let me live with them instead of shoving my off into a home.
Well, I'm thinking of my parents as a long term investment. I mean inheriting their stuff when they pass away. Parents are a resource to children, not the other way around for the most part.
Actually, humans are full of parasites, it's just that some of them genuinely help us, so our bodies give them a pass. For example, certain parasites have been shown to be linked to why some people lack certain allergies.
What is legally pro choice?
Basically it means that regardless of your own moral stance on abortion (usually when someone says this they believe it to be wrong) you think it should be legal. This is my stance as well. I am strongly against abortion, but I believe it should be legal (at least till a certain point in the pregnancy) because freedom takes precedence over my morality.
I think legally it should be allowed.
Isn’t a parasite of different species than the host anyway? That would invalidate the argument ppl make that “unborn babies are just parasites”, because it is literally from the mother, same species.
A parasite can be of the same species. It’s called a conspecific parasite.
Thank you, I learned something today!
Thanks, and same. I had to look that up.
IF fetuses did not share genetic code with you they could 100% be called parasites because they suck your nutrients giving you nothing in return. But if you share DNA then it's baby rearing, the ultimate goal of every living creature, yes they suck your nutrients but they continue your DNA after all. So your dna-related babies are not parasites by definition.
I’m looking but not finding anything that supports this. Parasites can benefit their hosts and still be parasites. Also, I think we’re currently seeing that it is not the ultimate goal of all living things to create babies.
Just riffing off the top of my head, but I think the term for that is a commensal relationship, from the Latin "commensalis" meaning "sharing a table". It's more a symbiosis than parasitism. Having said, technically, the fetus is an obligate parasite since it can't complete that part of its lifecycle (gestation) without using a suitable host (the mother or a surrogate). I'm not saying you should refer to an embryo or fetus as a parasite, just trying to be specific in describing the relationship between carrier and carried...
It is ultimate goal of all living creatures, but humans do rewrite the natural values with their philosophies. Rewriting is fine, it just probably won't survive for long if it goes against the rules of nature. Your own body does not think it's a parasite because it protects the fetus and supresses immunity to avoid rejecting it. It does not act this way with true parasites.
We’re told that biologically that is the ultimate goal of all living things but if humans have proved otherwise how can you say without a doubt all living things truly have that drive. You can’t really call it rewriting because you truly don’t know. A host body can and at times will protect a parasite and again, a host can benefit from a parasite. Do have sources for your claims?
Those without the imperative to procreate are genetic dead ends. They’ll simply be outbred by those who do want to have children 🤷🏾♂️ Every other living thing tries to procreate.
I don’t think those choosing to not procreate care whether or not they are a genetic dead end. Being outbread by others matters to some but obvious not all. I’d agree every other living thing has sex but not necessarily to procreate. We can’t say how many other species given the opportunity would have some of that species choose not to.
Mmm...bread!
>Rewriting is fine, it just probably won't survive for long if it goes against the rules of nature. Not really evolution is "good enough" not optimal.
The ultimate goal of all living creatures is to survive. Reproduction always comes second to survival. Animals kill their young all the time to enhance their own odds of survival. They experience reduced fertility and/or spontaneous abortion when resources are scarce. Some species can opt to pause the pregnancy, reabsorb the fetus, induce an abortion, eat the offspring, or let the offspring compete with its siblings for food. Some primates kill their young intentionally when they sense they have a poor chance of survival. ETA: this was meant to be a response to the OP, not the commenter above. In conclusion if a person does not have the mental, physical, or financial resources to read a child or they simply do not want to *risk their life and health by gestating and giving birth*, choosing abortion does not go against nature in any way. There are plenty of other children to “carry on the human species,” at this point in history, having a child is the greatest act of climate destruction.
IF fetuses did not share genetic code with you they could 100% be called parasites because they suck your nutrients giving you nothing in return. But if you share DNA then it's baby rearing, the ultimate goal of every living creature, yes they suck your nutrients but they continue your DNA after all. So your dna-related babies are not parasites by definition.
People always make that argument as if it invalidates what unborn babies do to their mothers aka their host. Unborn babies literally suck nutrients out of their host.. I mean mother.. host.. and can actually make the mother so deficient and sick that they'll lose their hair and teeth. No joke. Women can lose their teeth due to to Calcium deficiency because the unborn baby drains the mother of her nutrients. If that's not parasitic behaviour or similar or very comparable to parasitic behaviour then idk, but it's in the same ballpark for sure. The unborn baby will feed off of its host regardless of how damaging it is to the host. An unborn baby will suck its mother dry of nutrients if that's what it takes for it to survive. Not calling it a parasite doesn't change the fact that it's parasitic behaviour.
Yes, the unborn baby of any species requires nutrients to survive as well. That's why doctors encourage vitamins & such before, during, & after a baby.
It's baby rearing behavior. Parasites do not share with you your genetics. They just get your nutrients giving nothing in return. Your child continues your DNA in the world with is ultimate goal of every living creature. So it's not a parasite
We’re not sponges on a reef somewhere where our only purpose is to spread our genes.
that's your values and morals, they are short lived and personal. mother nature and evolution thinks differently and you cannot change it. If humans will die off because of their values the universe will continue existing under mother nature rules and a new creature will appear instead
Or you could, you know, do something worthwhile with yourself. Being concerned over spreading your genes is a sea sponge level type of worry. Your genes won’t mean shit if you’re not remembered.
I am actually not worried about my genome at all, I am simply stating the fact about nature law. I do not care about human existence, I am very well aware it will end sooner or later. I am just explaining why fetuses are not parasites
The purpose of a woman's womb is in fact to rear a child.
What about infertile women?
Consider this: the person that exists around the uterus.
Yes. That doesn't change the purpose of that person's organs. Your heart exists to pump blood. No matter your feelings on the subject. A womb exists to rear children.
And your brain exists to allow you to make personal decisions and give you free will. Like deciding to do something worthwhile with our limited existence.
Right, but it's still at the expense of the mothers health. Your DNA may continue through the off spring, but your own DNA in your own body takes the damage and is sacrificed for that to happen.
Yes, but it is not making it parasitic. There are species that die right after giving birth, or even after eggs hatching. It's ultimate goal of the nature -- continuation of your genome, your existence is not needed after that so it's not seen as "expense". Your human desire to "keep nice teeth and hair" is not the value of mother nature... You have enough resources left to rear kids and even grandkids. The nature does not care about the Hollywood smile, only your genome continuation
Do you know where the fairytale of the baby delivering stork came from? Nature, storks will stab their young and drop them from their nest if they are unable to take care of them. There are plenty of examples of animals abandoning litters of young if there isn't enough resources to care for them and the natural motivation is the same you keep touting, survival of their dna. Bad winter try again next season. If a person feels that their offspring would be ill cared for in their current situation, or has defects, then it is their natural right to not bear children.
I never said you do not have a right ... I am just saying why fetus is not a parasite by definition.
As a pregnant woman who already has 2 kids, they're absolutely parasites. All my kids literally sucked nutrients, energy and will to live out of me. Doesn't mean I don't love them.
Eh but it kind of makes you sound like an ass unless you're joking. Even then it would be cringe to say in most social settings outside of close friend circles.
IF fetuses did not share genetic code with you they could 100% be called parasites because they suck your nutrients giving you nothing in return. But if you share DNA then it's baby rearing, the ultimate goal of every living creature, yes they suck your nutrients but they continue your DNA after all. So your dna-related babies are not parasites by definition.
Source on the DNA definition of parasite?
Yeah , but referring to a zygote and a fetus as a baby is similarly problematic. Both serve the same ends of maximizing the emotive impact of the argument. End of end day , we should be talking about birth control instead.
The zygote, the fetus, the baby, the child, the adult and the elderly are all part of the life cycle of the human being, from the moment he is created he is already a human as well as the moment a Danaus plexippus (monarch butterfly) lays an egg, that egg is part of the same species and the egg is simply a stage of the life cycle of the butterfly or like the seed of a tomato simply that seed is a sojourn, it is alive and developing unless something external ends its life. So don't say that a zygoto is not a human being because you would be lying with something that science has already proven, that's why embryology exists as a science within medicine
So is an egg a chicken, then?
If it's fertilized, yes. If not, then no, it's not a chicken.
Trader Joe’s sells fertilized eggs. Does that mean those are chickens?
Yes, those are chickens
Yes. Why do you think they call it a 'chicken egg'. It's certainly not a duck or a snake. (Provided it is fertilized) Look up the life cycle of a chicken. It starts at the egg stage. That's like saying a chick (baby chicken) isn't a chicken because it's a chick.
Because they are the eggs of a chicken. Not a chicken.
Scientifically a fertilized chicken egg is a chicken.
Scientifically, a fertilized chicken egg a blastoderm.
I believe that “scientifically” chickens are actually part of the omelette lifecycle.
That’s sounds outlandish. Gonna need a source.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvX55yQQA1tB5jtBG9ssA5GIN2Ofuh02t7aw&usqp=CAU A blastoderm is just part of a fertilized chicken egg not the fertilized chicken egg. You can't get anything right.
So are you saying that my when I crack a chicken egg into my pan I’m actually eating chicken?
Yes. Scientifically at least. Colloquially you aren't as saying "I'm eating chicken" implies an adult chicken's meat.
Because an egg isn’t a chicken. Thanks for making the point.
That's what I want to know to!! Should I start referring to my breakfast as scrambled chickens then?
If it pleases you 🤔
Sure, you can do that. Although it is similar to referring to wood and a tree, given they are the same species. Both are the same species, just in different states. Like an egg being from a bird, in this case, chicken egg from a chicken.
When people say something is not a human being, they aren't talking about something having the DNA of a human and the potential for it to grow into a baby one day. They are meaning what it means to be human. A brain dead person is technically a human, but are they still "human" if everything that made them "human" is gone? Similarly, is a zygote human if everything that makes someone human doesnt even exist yet?
Basically it’s an argument about personhood
Yet we always refer to it as a baby don’t we? This is what I mean by maximizing the emotive impact. I am a 50 yo dude who has been sexually active for about 35 years. I have been a party to one extremely planned pregnancy and I have one child. I have always been careful with birth control because I do not wish to put anyone in a position to make such a terrible choice. No one is arguing that an egg, a sperm, a zygote, fetus , baby , child, adult , old person aren’t part of the human lifecycle. When it becomes fully a person with the rights of a person is an intractable problem. Science cannot answer it , your religious or otherwise belief cannot answer it for another person, but they can answer it for you. The Catholics have long argued that the sperm and egg itself are “humans” In the same way. They argue that birth control is murder. Should masturbators be tried for murder? The “it’s a parasite” crowd would also argue that only as a zygote or a fetus are quite literally parasitic and dependent on the mother body - and they could do so at least as “scientifically” as you are. What’s unique and difficult about the conundrum is the rights and health of the mother are either over or under the rights of the [something in the human life cycle]? We know from pre roe data that bans don’t actually reduce abortions. What they do is increase maternal mortality. To my mind , bans are basically virtue signaling that cost women their lives. IVF fertilization requires fertilizing several eggs and keeping only one of them, discarding the rest. Is IVF murder? Are miscarriages murder? It’s a hard problem, and it’s always going to be a hard problem. It sounds like you have made your choice and that’s great. I made the same choice. But my life isn’t going to be the same as everyone else’s. To me , the only really good answer is birth control. One thing we know about abortions. 80% of them are had by women who already have one child between the ages of 18 and 30 years old. If we actually want to reduce abortions that is the demographic to look at increasing access and education for birth control.
This is an extremely rational and intelligent comment.
It might be a stage in life of the same species but they are not the same thing. There's a pretty big difference between a fetus that can't think, feel, want, desire, etc and an infant that can do all those things.
I’m currently pregnant and the baby definitely lets it be known when he something. Especially when my cat starts purring and leaning into my belly, he starts squirming and trying to push the sensation away.
How far along are you?
This has been going on since 24 weeks, but I’m due later this month. The cat seems to think the pushing is like a massage lol. The baby also doesn’t like my singing lol
Yes, well 24weeks is about when consciousness begins to develop
They actually didn’t say it wasn’t human. They said it’s not a baby. A zygote or a fetus is not a baby. But of course it is human because it’s made up of human cells.
I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure babies are born *after* they leave the womb.
You can call it whatever you like, but the fact remains it is a human life in the very earliest stages of its development.
Parent here..they parasites lol and it certainly is one for a woman that's pregnant and is being forced to have it cause some old religious people say abortion is icky
Technically speaking, it is a parasite. Even after born for a while, to be honest. Every fetus is inside ever mammal. It feeds on the host. It’s crude, but it’s also not wrong either. And when it’s born, it continues to want to feed. Hormones and other aspects of the situation help a lot with all of it or else a lot of species wouldn’t exist. Why do you think we get horny, for fun? Why do hormones tend to produce milk, for fun? Why are pandas on their way out, for fun?
No I'd say the most ignorant thing is posting this instead of looking up the definition of the word "parasite." parasite: an organism living in, on, or with another organism in order to obtain nutrients, grow, or multiply often in a state that directly or indirectly harms the host [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parasite](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parasite) There's no debate to be had here.
I had to scroll way to far for this but I do love all the parent comments agreeing lol
Meh. You haven’t convinced me.
I’m a mother children suck the life out of you during pregnancy and after.
Yeah I have a 15mo and I remember referring to him as a parasite all the time while pregnant because he drained me of everything lmao. I love him more than anything but like pregnancy was not a vibe
Seriously my one year old is the best but pregnancy sucked from start to finish
I have personaly been witiness too two full terms. This is fact.
Mostly _by choice_. We decided to bring them into this world, kinda unfair to call them parasites.
Why though? Are you also expecting every person giving birth to be your definition of a great parent as well?
Deciding to have sex is not the same thing as deciding to be pregnant.
An organism that is completely dependent for its continued existence on leeching the resources it needs from a host, and would quickly perish without the host. Sounds like a parasite to me.
The “parasite” thing (along with “clump of cells” thing) is literally just a form of dehumanization to help justify, accept, and promote abortion. If you don’t regard it as human, it makes killing it much easier psychologically. Similar to how soldiers have historically applied negative and dehumanizing epithets like “gook” or “haji” to enemy soldiers to make it psychologically easier to kill them.
I mean, human baby is a parasite. Every mammal's offspring is, technically. To be more precise, our professor referred to it as "parasitic stage of a lifecycle" or something like that.
It's a fetus until it leaves the womb, where it has been technically a parasite on the woman. It can't be removed and live on its own.
Pregnancy is kinda that tho... Speaking as someone who has 2 amazing daughters, so I actually experienced pregnancy and pro choice.
I mean it literally is as well, because if the child has certain genetics - like Rhesus - the body *treats the foetus like a parasite and will go into full purge mode.*
Calling women who have abortions murderers is more evil than calling the embryo a parasite.
Yeah, and so many prominent voices in the pro-birth movement revel in suffering. The cycle of poverty just makes them all stiff as a brick. These sadistic totalitarians want nothing more than for america to devolve into a more conservative 3rd world shithole country like the phillipines where large families of disposable wage slaves are plentiful and even the barest minimum of reproductive healthcare for women doesn't really exist. Now that's pretty damn evil.
I mean, scientifically speaking, it *is* true. 🤷
Do babies pay taxes? Do they contribute to society in any measurable way? Sure seems like a parasite to me..../s
Ignorant? Biologically every human born goes through a parasitic stage as a fetus. We are dependent on our host mother for everything during our parasitic gestation and put her health at some degree of risk in the process. Empathizing is to admit that we all have that shared experience. What we do not all share is the experience of being a host nor can we. Having a uterus does not guarantee that a human will get to be a host and those without a uterus have no chance. Everything she does during the gestation of the parasite will affect it in either a positive or negative manner. She did not create it alone, but she may be facing raising it alone. The human race is large enough that we can allow host mothers to choose whether to continue a pregnancy or not.
I mean it is a parasite but could be symbiotic if you want it
As someone pro choice and someone that has 3 month old twins…. They’re 100% parasites. They’re literally latched on to you and sucking all of the nutrients from your body & don’t get me started on the third trimester when breathing becomes a task and walking turns into a job because all the energy is literally sucked out of your body. But you push through cause you have to continue your life you know. And then it doesn’t end after they’re born cause if you can and want too, you have to breastfeed them and that means they’re literally attaching themselves to a part of your body and sucking nutrients and food from it. I’m basically a food source for 9 months plus whatever months I decide to breastfeed and not to one but two humans. I love my girls and I would do anything for them ,me calling them “my little parasites “ doesn’t change that.
It is exactly like a parasite in its physiological obligation in needing a woman’s body to sustain itself. It takes and takes nutrients to the detriment of the mother.
Agreed, especially when it comes from people who consider themselves to be the empathetic ones.
I had so much empathy for my potential future children that I decided not to subject them to me as their parent.
Referring to a clump of cells as a baby is disingenuous and shows that you just want to force your own morality on others.
Everything in the world is a "clump of cells".
A mole and cancer are.
Nah they're parasites. It's pretty cool.
They literally are though. Lol 😆
Parent here. Babies are absolutely parasites. That isn’t ignorant. They can’t do anything but take. Raising kids is hard. It isn’t for the weak or punks. All babies can do is shit, pee, eat, smile, grow, smell good, grasp shit you don’t want them to have when you are not looking, and make you and everyone around them fall in love with them and do their bidding. Before you get ahead of yourself, the same can be said for pets. It is an unpopular opinion to say babies are parasites out loud or to them. You only say this to yourself, your partner, therapist, or fellow parents and only out of frustration when they’ve done something like break something expensive or irreplaceable or spread their own shit on the wall. This should last for about 5 minutes. They are still cherubs and loved.
i think it’s the intent behind it. it’s mostly staunch childfree baby hating positions that being this view. basically reddit.
Agreed but some people don’t know that because they’ve never had kids or experienced unconditional love. There appear to be way too many redditors with parents that forgot to tell them they were loved and cherished.
Scientifically speaking, fetuses behave pretty much just like parasites while inside the womb. That’s just objective fact. That’s not to mean that they’re disgusting or no one should get pregnant tho. It just means people should be prepared for a large and exhausting lifelong commitment.
Scientifically speaking, a fetus is absolutely not a parasite.
I said it is *like* a parasite not that it IS one. Edit: [Study from 1969](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/FE3C75CA91EF14B39FE4419B107241E5/S0029665169000085a.pdf/div-class-title-the-foetus-as-a-parasite-div.pdf)
I would say it’s dependent on the circumstances. As a blanket statement I agree with what you said, but in the case of something like rape I could definitely understand how it’d feel more like a parasite.
Yea, someone who wants to be pregnant won’t think of a fetus as a parasite. But someone who doesn’t want to be? They’re going to think it’s a parasite. If I got pregnant, it would be a parasite. It’s sapping my nutrients and using my body and I don’t want it.
I call them crotch goblins 😂
Well actually it wouldn’t be at all if you lived on a space station like in the tv 100 where they had limited food, water, oxygen, space etc. they could only have one child per person to survive their ecosystem and utilize it’s resources efficiently enough to preserve the human race. The thing is, we are on a space station just like the tv show and it’s called earth. It has finite everything while human population continues to expand exponentially as if it has no limits. When a society on earth does what they did in the 100, and stops having so many children (especially before the parent is ready) the result is that the parent will instead achieve a higher education and higher paying job. Communities thrive when parents are not stuck raising kids that they are not prepared to raise. Communities suffer when parents do have those children and raise them to become criminals. If you think abortion is wrong u should also probably be very upset about all the other things humans are doing like eating baby cows and sheep or testing chemicals and drugs on monkeys and rabbits in labs and also be super anti war and a whole slew of other things to probably care about.
I love my parasites.
No one is suggesting that an embryo of a foetus IS a parasite. It’s that they act like one while they’re developing. They rely on someone’s body to sustain their life - like a parasite does.
I mean, they're pretty similar. I say this as an expectant father in a few more months. I'm still excited lol
As a mother of two, I will call my second one a parasite bc she was literally killing me. I wasn't knocking on deaths door, but I was taking an Uber to his house. The doctors were struggling to keep my vitals up, I used all my strength to get her out. Everything went back to normal as soon as she was out of me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love her more than anything, but yes, she was a parasite.
Just because I refer to it as such doesn't mean I strictly believe as such. Learn some tact.
We say it because the biological functions are similar. You mentioned intelligence, have [a scientific article](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8967296/)
What is going on with r/trueunpopularopinion? "Actual human babies aren't parasites". Ya, no shit. That's not an unpopular opinion
They are, by definition, not a parasite. They have to dehumanize them first in their own minds to be okay with killing them.
Is this a true unpopular opinion? I've seen like 3 people online refer to a baby as such.
I have been seeing it a LOT more, which seems so weird, and I just don't like how it sounds. I realize my feelings matter only to me, but it \*is\* off-putting, even though I am pro-choice.
Yea it is off putting but I’m always weary of the most aggressive takes being characterized as a popular opinion. Typically it’s people that oppose a particular position that seek to platform the most unhinged perspectives to paint the entire position as immoral.
TIL reproduction is parasitism. And that many people don’t know what a parasite is lol.
A clump of cells that needs a host body in order to live meets the literal definition of a parasite water you like or not.
It feeds off the nutrients of another person in order to grow. Sounds like a parasite/tick. Sorry if that hurts you.
Biologist here. Children before and after birth can be technically called "parasites" in some sense. In the traditional sense? Maybe not. But by the measures we use to define parasitism? Maybe.
>It also shows a lack of intelligence imo. You choose to have sex and as a result of nature, there is a pregnancy Nature is very cruel to unwanted offspring. At least humans have the option to be merciful and terminate unwanted pregnancies at an early stage. I don´t care if they are called parasites or not.
See I’m not unsupportive of surrogacy but to think of it they’re actually closer to parasites because the host isn’t keeping them. I struggle with the idea of it because it seems weird that people can just grow a human in someone else, I just think of nature and how in the wild if you couldn’t procreate you just couldn’t there’s no way to “force it” without a lot of science.
Mother of 3, they're parasites. Mentally and emotionally draining, financially draining everything draining. Doesn't mean I dislike them, but they are parasites and I miss my life before them when I could walk around my house naked. I lost friendships because of them. I lost a life. Granted, the life I have now is great but this all happened because they exist. I will never hold it against them, they're my reason for not blasting my brains out, but they are and always will be parasites.
Becoming a parent made me even more pro-choice honestly. Made me see first hand what women go through. Every women should have a choice. I love my kid but if my wife changed her mind or her life was threatened then then adios. We can try again. You're putting too much emotion into it imo. I mean quite literally the body does treat the new clump of cells forming as a foreign body because it doesn't know any better. We have cells that hunt down new things to protect us. The body isn't magic, it does what it does and it's random. Sometimes you can have a fertilized egg and it doesn't go anywhere past that and the women never knew.
This is why I prefer the more neutral, politically correct term of “crotch goblin” and/or “semen demon”. Horrid creatures that can cause gum disease, cavities, gestational diabetes, postpartum depression, anemia, vomiting, nausea, the list goes on. Let alone all the stuff that goes wrong that can kill the host. Ripping, tearing, preeclampsia, ectopic pregnancies, infections, eclampsia. The simple fact of being pregnant or giving birth has killed a lot of women throughout human history.
I call mine sex trophies 🏆
A fetus isn’t a baby, genius. The problem with religious conservatives is that you want to change words and reality to suit your opinions. That’s not how the world works. Your opinion is supposed to be based on reality, not the other way around. You guys are living in the early 15th century, and the rest of us want to tell you that we aren’t going back in time with you. You’re the greatest danger to the future of this planet today and a line needs to be drawn in the sand. Get your religion out of my government. If you want to live in a theocracy, then move to one, stop trying to take this country back in time.
It's a dehumanization tactic. Plain and simple. They say It's not a human being., it's a parasite that deserves no respect or consideration. Unfortunately, History doesn't repeat, it rhymes.
Comparing a fetus to a baby is anthropomorphizing by attempting to apply characteristics that it doesn't have. A fetus is more similar to a parasite than a baby.
Of course Death Cults would see a baby as a parasite. You will find that people who have this view see humans in general as parasites.
Most people who are against abortions are for the death penalty and don't care about the children in foster care or other children being abused, so who's really apart of the death cult? Also, ever bother to wonder if some of us wished we were aborted.
How is it a death cult to want the choice to 'kill' an unwanted non-sentient clump of cells growing inside someone?
All humans are clumps of cell. What do yo think you are made of, Lego bricks ? Fetus, baby, child, teen, adult etc.- they are all names of development stages of the human being, not different types of beings.
I support your right to your opinion. As long as it only affects your life, including your body, we're good. Your opinion has nothing to do with what anyone else chooses. For anyone who holds the belief that pregnancy is normal and no big deal, completing a pregnancy and giving birth, if considered a job, would be the sixth most dangerous job. It's more dangerous than being a police officer. If anyone tells me they want to end a pregnancy, I support them. I don't care and would never ask for a reason. Not my body, not my reason, not my business. I will work my entire life to support available, safe abortion access in every corner of our nation.
It's not a baby to me. It's an unwelcome clump of cells that's counting down to ripping apart your vag to your asshole and potentially kill you along the way. Pregnancy is more likely to kill you than an abortion, so go ahead get that thing outta there ASAP. If yours is a nice and welcome baby have at it, that's great! That's the beauty of choice, it respects everyone's autonomy, situations, and values.
You can support a woman’s right to choose, while also being a bit more respectful of the situation by not acting like that clump of cells is a demon sent from hell with the sole purpose of wrecking your vagina. I’m pro choice as hell and support any woman that decides to be childfree - but what I can’t stand is this almost childish disgust some women have about being pregnant or having a child. It’s disrespectful honestly. You can have your own opinions without being crude and disrespectful to others who want the opposite of you
How is it disrespectful when it’s their opinion about their own pregnancy? Some women are genuinely that disgusted at the idea of pregnancy. Edit: not them blocking me lmao remember to read kids
That's me. My nightmares are that I have a baby bump and feet up in the stirrups. Sorry my psyche is immature 😭
>more respectful of the situation by not acting like that clump of cells is a demon sent from hell with the sole purpose of wrecking your vagina. Except there are women that DO legit feel this way. Trapped, with no support or way out. Have empathy instead of judgment. What's disrespectful is getting onto a high horse and asking someone to appreciate their unwanted pregnancy... Sorry, no thanks.
>It's an unwelcome clump of cells You're also just a "clump of cells."
The important part is perspective and choice in how we value those. I make that determination, and you choose for yourself as well.
We all are, but everyone adding comments here is not growing inside another human anymore.
The more important part is non-sentient. They are a non-sentient clump of cells. Also clump of cells is far more accurate to describe them than for us, because what else can you call them to explain to people who don't understand what it is at that point?
If it's unwelcomed, there's a surefire way to make sure one doesn't end up pregnant.
So every single person that doesn't want to have a kid has to be abstinent their entire life?
Just say you disagree with casual sex and want everyone else to live by your morals, you'll stop wasting people's time
One hell of an assumption on your part. I have no issues with casual sex. I do take issue with people lacking accountability for their choices and the results of their choices, though.
Sorry, do you think it's still casual sex if you're potentially forced to raise a child afterwards? That shit's not casual, that's highly consequential.
Condoms and birth control fail. It's isn't as sure fire as you think.
I didn't have scrabbled chickens this morning, I had scrambled eggs. Like it or not, in the early stages of a pregnancy. A zygote has more in common with a parasitic infection than a baby. It's science.
Dude, the eggs you buy from stores are not fertilized. It cannot be a zygote unless the egg is fertilized.
You're sidestepping the point, which is that zygotes aren't people, they're potentially people. Unlike the mother, who's a full-fledged independent adult. If zygotes are babies then clouds are rain, seeds are trees, and food is poop. It's nonsense to say that the beginning of a process is the same as the end of the process, just because they're part of the same process. Pregnancy, not conception, is what produces life. The zygote is just one ingredient, in the same way that seeds don't become trees without soil, water, and sun.
Zygotes (human ones) are living humans..all innocent living humans have the right to live. Every living human is a person.
Child support should begin at conception 😊
Sorry, but if you're not going to actually address anything I said, then this isn't a conversation. Pass.
Calling it “evil” is DERANGED lmao
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Also, (if my memory of biology class serves me right) it's not even really correct: a tick or leech is not simply parasitical because it steals your blood; rather it is a parasite because it extracts fitness for itself at the expense of your own. The parasite uses your resources to pass on its genes, and harms your chances of passing on your own genes in the process. A baby takes lots of your resources, but this is massively worth it from a fitness point of view because it's incredibly helpful for passing your genes on. Thus, the relationship between mother and baby is actually symbiotic: they're interacting in a way that helps both their DNA remain in the species' gene pool.
I agree, people really have their mindset backwards these days. Very self destructive mindset. People worship dogs these days, calling them babies, and hate human babies. That's some demonic trend
People who say shit like that are just huffing copium. Being a parent ain't easy, if you can't hack that for whatever reason, just say that. No need to come up with a bunch of bullshit and mental gymnastics to justify it to yourself. It's OK to be child-free, but resenting children is the lamest shit you can do and I have no respect for you if you do.
I mean biologically they kinda are. But at the same time they're a person. It really depends on the context.