Yeah, if her hearing could be restored it should be. It would give her a huge advantage in the world.

I had a friend in High School that had two deaf parents but could hear (so could his sister). When you rang the doorbell all the lights in the house lit up so they knew someone was at the door.

I wish I had an image that would just appear on the wall from a camera so whatever room I was in I couldsee who was there. A hologram or something. Bill Gates can fill his bath tub from his driveway with a remote!

Bill Gates has a $100 million dollar house. Who needs that? (Answer: no one)

This is a pretty good debate between you guys. All I have to say is that I can understand why the parents don't want their daughter to have the operation. It's their choice, not hers, because the operation is not a matter of life and death (court case somebody noted) and the child is a minor, so it's always the parents' call. And like I said, I understand why they did it. Obviously, the biggest thing in their life is their handicap, and through their handicap they have also found love and they clearly embrace their culture. They want their daughter to lead the same life.

You're right, it isn't a matter about life itself so much as the quality of life. She loses the quality of her life by being forced to live with that handicap. By the time she does get the operation, it would probably be a moot point since she would have the vocabulary of a 1 year-old (if even), and who knows about the psychological effects of learning to speak that late. There's no reason why the daughter still can't embrace her culture whilst being able to hear. I'm Armenian, can I partake in traditional Armenian culture while still being an active American? Of course. Could I not? Yup, but it would definitely hold me back. I have a few former Indian friends (and 3 ex's heh) that were extremely sheltered, growing up in Indian culture and such, but not being allowed to experience American culture in the least. Two of my ex's now have kids and dropped out of high school, one's a slut, two are in college and are quite level-headed, and the last one is now a heavy drug user.

The Indian story is obviously completely different in just about every way, but it's meant to parallel the deaf culture thing. I doubt someone deaf that decides to get the operation will suddenly become a heroin junkie, but I'm sure a few have when they realize they can't talk worth sh*t. The parents denying their daughter hearing is like denying her first grade.