Eugenics is a term that was coined in 1882 by Francic Golton. He is considered the father of eugenics. He was the cousin of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution. The term Eugenics came from Greek, where ‘eu’ means well or good and ‘genics’ means origin. So, the term literally means well-born or being born with certain characteristics defined by a group of society, for example, to be healthy or having no defects or disease. Galton believed that selective breeding with ‘desired’ traits can be helpful for a ‘better’ human race. His study was based on upper-class Britain which concluded with a result that the elite class was because of the good genetics background.
The eugenics movement took place in the US in the early 1900s. Several prominent biologists showed interest in the term and it became a good purview of academics. However, it became an active social movement by 1920. The American Eugenics Society was founded by many other groups around the country supporting Eugenics. The focus of this society or group was to eliminate the negative traits. Different events, fair, exhibits took place competing ‘fitter family’ and ‘better baby’. Minority, poor and uneducated people were forcefully sterilized which was considered legal.
The practice of Eugenics first came to attention in 1915 with the case of baby Bollinger. The baby was born paralyzed on the left side of his body. He left ear was completely missing and right eardrum was missing. His right cheek was connected to his shoulder and had curvature of the spine. The only chance of his survival was immediate surgery. The doctor in charge was named Dr. Haiselden, a firm believer of eugenics. He examined the baby and came to a conclusion that if the child is allowed to live he would be defective mentally and morally who will be a burden not only for the family but also for the society. He convinced the mother of the baby to let him die. After the baby died on November 18 at five days old, Haiselden had to face a jury of six prominent Chicago-area physicians. He was found not guilty of murder. A movie named ‘The Black Stork(1917)’ was filmed on this story and shockingly it represented the doctor as a hero to the society.
The eugenics movement started to dim out in the 1940s with World War II. However, the idea remains prevalent in modern genetics and biomedical field.
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