STERILIZATION 43 



when they live with their parents or appointed guardians. 

 Girls who have already gone wrong need careful watching, 

 whilst there has been surprisingly little trouble in regard to 

 sexual matters with the men when on parole. A number 

 of the sterilized persons are married, some having had 

 children before sterilization. Marriage is indeed regarded 

 as the most practical way of steadying girls when at liberty. 

 It is claimed that, on the whole, sterilization has not 

 increased promiscuous intercoiu-se, and may even have 

 lessened it. 



EngHsh experience indicates that, in spite of great care, 

 feeble-minded girls when not in institutions sometimes give 

 birth to illegitimate children. In these circumstances a 

 feeble-minded mother should not be held to be responsible 

 or blameworthy, for it was impossible for her to have fully 

 reahzed the nature of her offence. Since such occurrences 

 could certainly be avoided by steriHzation, a parent or 

 guardian who fails to take this precaution must be prepared 

 to accept the whole blame. If mothers of feeble-minded 

 girls would picture to themselves all the shame and suffer- 

 ing which would be felt if an illegitimate grandchild were 

 to be born in their home, they might begin to look on 

 steriHzation in a new hght. 



We have here been deahng with a disagreeable subject; 

 but, in view of the possibihty of thus improving the lot of 

 all future generations, eugenics demands that careful and 

 unprejudiced consideration should be given to the uses to 

 which steriHzation might be put. 



