I think we are walking a fine line now that we have the ability manipulate genetics and reproduction. A person can choose what genes they want to eliminate in their own DNA or with egg donation, what they want qualities and genetics they want for their child. When a couple needs a donor egg they are given a profile about the donors medical background but it also details if they are athletic, what college they went to (if they went to college), and other aspects of their personal life in order for the person or persons to decide what "kind" of child they want. Gender can also be selected. I am currently helping a couple have a child of their own by being their surrogate but it also present a lot of moral and ethically issue with it. If a couple can not have a child should they be able to have someone else carry it for them? Genetic test are done on the parents before hand in order to eliminate the possibility of serious genetic diseases. If we be able to "weed out" those genetic traits what else can we eliminate? If the goal is create a healthy child I think that it is a good thing but it also has the possibility to be taken to extremes and it can cause more harm then good. I guess with any technology there is the potential for good and bad. We just have to hope for more good. When Helva decided not to stay in the envelope on the Corvi planet I was a little surprised that she did not. Having the ability to move her body seemed to me to be something that she should want but the rest of the people on the ship were depending on her to get them home and the jelly fish type individuals seemed a little weird to me so I thought it was a good choice. But when she was given to option to be able to inhabit a human body I was totally shocked that she did not take it. To be able to be like all the humans she encounter, to be able to move freely and touch other beings I would think would have been a dream come true but when I started to really think about it I realized that ship is her body, the only body she has ever know and her eye sight, strength, and other abilities as a ship make her in a lot of ways better then a human body. I think that we sometimes feel that what we have is better then anything else. Maybe because it is what we have always known and believes that our way is the best way. I have never had the abilities to be as Helva is so how would I know that being in control of a ship is not the better way of life. Besides the fact that she can not touch anyone or anything she does have sensations it seems that it has a lot of good qualities that many might desire.

I wonder how important physical touch is for a person mentally and physically.  I guess being a very touchy person myself it is hard to imagine not being able to ever touch another person.  I hug just about everyone, my husband actually get irritated because it take me 20 minutes to leave any family function because I hug my whole family before I leave.  If I did not have the ability to touch others I could not kiss my kids goodnight, hold hands with my husband, and enjoy just sitting and petting my cats.  I don't think I would really be content if  I could not do those things.  From the time we are born it seems we are hardwired to need to be touched and touch others in return.  A crying baby is soothed being held and/or having her back rubbed.  We also reach out at an early age to grab for someones hand or hold their fingers.  When we are young and we fall or get hurt it is mom's kisses and hugs that make it all better.  As we get older and we are sad it is the hugs and comforting that can make the pain and sadness bearable.  Physical contact gives us a connection to others, a sense that we are not alone.  I am not sure that anything else can compare or replace that physical and emotion connection.  I know I would never want to try.

Is it possible that most if not all women are born to be mothers in some way. It seems that in all the books we have read and I am sure that it is true with many other women characters in other books as well. It seems that no matter what situation they are put in women tend to be the ones to save the child, or try to save her crew members, or teach a child to live and learn properly. Is it possible that women are hard wired to protect, teach, and care for others? Are men capable of the same acts of protecting the people they care about, helping those individuals weaker then themselves, and teaching those who need teaching. Is it not possible that compaction and the desire to help and protect others is a human trait and not just a female trait despite how it is often portrayed. I think often men are suppose to be the strong, unfeeling ones and the women are suppose to be the caring, loving ones but I think it is unfair to always place a women in the maternal roll and realize that men are able take on the caregiver roll as well. Women must carry and give birth to a child but that does not always mean that they are the most qualified to be the care giver in every situation.