The Truth About Antonio (standard:drama, 957 words)
Author: kathyg	Added: Feb 23 2004	Views/Reads: 3701/2313	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Antonio and Rita have been in love for over 40 years. Is the truth always a good thing? An ethical issue.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

finally someone other than myself and Rita knows about this." 

"Tell me, how was it like growing up? Painful, I imagine, right?" 

"Yes. Very painful. You see, I am Italian and I grew up in the
neighborhood. You know how it is. This deformity has affected me 
terribly. I walk around being ashamed and shy because of my body image. 
You can't imagine what it was like going to school. I had a wretched 
adolescence being constantly teased by my Italian classmates and 
friends." 

"Antonio is a good husband to me. We don't have any children but we love
each other for forty years. Isn't that saying something?" 

"Yes, Rita. That says alot.", replies the doctor. 

In the back of the doctor's mind is this question:  "What is the cause
of Antonio's deformity?"  This question intrigues him so much that he 
orders blood and urine tests, a chest X ray and other tests are set in 
motion. He adds a Buccal test where a tissue sample is taken from 
Antonio's mouth and sent to the cytogenetics lab to determine gender. 

Antonio shakes the doctor's hand. "You have no idea how grateful I am
for your understanding Doc. Maybe you can find out why I am the way I 
am." 

"We will do our best to find out, Antonio." 

"Thanks, Doc. Goodbye." 

"Bye, Antonio." 

"Does it really matter, darling?", Rita says. 

Antonio hugs his Rita and they leave the clinic. 

Several days later, all the lab results are back and everything is
within normal margins except the Buccal Test. Indeed, Antonio is 
genotypically female (XX). Within an hour, the doctor  consults with a 
member of the hospital's Ethical Committee on this question: 

"Should we tell Antonio the results of the gender test?" 

The doctor sit across the desk from each other and  consider all the
factors of Antonio's case. 

His age is 61 years old.  Outwardly, he dresses like a man and looks
likea man. He shaves his face daily.  He has been married for 40 years 
to the same woman with no children. It is a good marriage and despite 
Antonio's wretched adolescent experiences, he and Rita seem happy. 

"What would you say to this man?" 

"Nothing can be changed. He has to live with whatever results we give
him. We must be delicate. I don't believe that Antonio would be able to 
grasp the complexities of his case as well as many other factors. He 
has a strong relationship with his wife Rita." 

His colleague advises: "Like the old saying goes,'If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.'" 

They both laugh. "Ain't that the truth!" 

"I feel more harm than good would come from this by telling Antonio the
truth. This could harm his marriage." 

"Doctor, there is another problem. What do we do about the facts? The
medical facts of Antonio's case? His genotype is medically relevant 
information and should be part of his history in some way. At this 
clinic, all medically relevant information is kept at the hospital's 
mainframe computer." 

"This is a real concern. Parties might access the information and
ultimately violate Antonio's privacy. 

What can we do to protect Antonio's privacy?" 

"We would have to code this information in such a way that his privacy
is not jeopardized by prying eyes." 

"Very good." 

To this day, Antonio does not know that he is really a "woman". 


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