The recent coverage of Josef Fritzl and, unrelated, Nadya Suleman, has got me thinking lately about rights (?) and privileges (?) that go along with parenthood. Before I jump in though, I want to preface this article by clearly acknowledging that NO, I am not a parent! I do not have any children, and I do not have any plans to have any in the super-near future. I want to be very clear about this before I begin, because “You don’t have any children!” tends to be the first thing people (particularly parents) say to me when having this type of conversation with me.

I believe that simply because you can, physically, have children, does not mean that should. I believe, in the case of Nadya Suleman, that simply because you have a uterus and a vagina does not mean you should use them to the point of excess. One’s reproductive organs are not a clown car, and I do not believe they should be treated as such – unless, of course, said parent is capable of providing for them, financially and otherwise, without the assistance of the government and/or generous donations. I believe if you cannot provide appropriately for the children you already have (as in the case with Nadya’s children) then you should not have more. Yes, you love children … most people love children; I adore them. But right now I’m in no position to care for them in any sort of way, therefore I do not have any. It does not take a genius to figure out how this ought to work, just a little common sense and maturity.

Some may argue that Nadya has an inherent right to decide for herself if she has any children, and if she does, how many she has. As I said, I agree, as long as she’s able to care for them. Some may argue that interfering with Nadya’s procreation is stomping on her rights; I worry about the children rights – the rights to be cared for, the right to not go home hungry, the right to have enough space, the right to have clean clothes.

Moving on to Josef Fritzl: He had a daughter, whom he locked underground and raped, 3000 times, procreating with her 7 times over. Obviously, his case is an extreme one, but it got me thinking about the way people treat their children; I hate to think about how many children are, in this moment, being mistreated by their parents. How many times have I heard someone say, “The way I raise my kids is my business” or “It’s my right as a parent to discipline my kids”? Do you, as a parent, have the right to treat your children any way you choose? Of course not. Parents slap their children, strap them, scream in their faces, grab them, yank them, and worse. Like other forms of violence, it tends to get worse, not better.

I would be willing to bet that Josef Friztl didn’t just wake up one morning and lock his daughter in the basement-dungeon and starting raping her and procreating with her. In fact, I would be willing to bet that if the authorities checked back far enough, there would be a history of suspicions and/or allegations: strange bruises, behaving inappropriately toward neighborhood children; there has to be something. Because we tend to give parents the benefit of the doubt, there may have been something overlooked in Fritzl’s behavior, that should have been noticed. Our hands-off policy for other people’s parenting methods needs to stop; creating a child does not give you the right to do whatever you want with them; we need to step up our vigilance, and make sure that what is happening in our community is what is best for the CHILDREN, not the parents. Being a parent should be a privilege, not a right; we are all responsible.

Josef Fritzl, the man who shocked the world by (allegedly) confining his daughter to the basement for 34 years and fathering 7 by her, has changed his plea to GUILTY on all counts, and has accepted the court’s verdict. Previously, Fritzl had contested some of the wording of the allegations, including the allegation of rape. On Wednesday, Fritzl surprised the court by changing his mind, and pleading guilty to charges of homicide, enslavement, incest, rape, false imprisonment, and coercion.

On Thursday, Fritzl was sentenced to life in a psychiatric hospital and will not be eligible for parole for at least 15 years. A panel of psychiatrists will have to agree before he will be able to released. Earlier on Wednesday, Fritzl’s prisoner-daughter Elizabeth, testified via video about the atrocities visited upon her and her children at the hands of her father. It was after this video that Fritzl changed his plea, prompting some to speculate his daughter’s testimony defeated his willingness to fight in court. Fritzl is quoted as saying, “I regret it with all my heart … I can’t make it right anymore.”

Elizabeth was held captive in a handmade-dungeon for 24 years, completely dependent upon her father’s whims for even the most basic necessities, such as food for herself and her children. In 1996, one of Elizabeth’s children (baby Michael) was in desperate need of medical care. Fritzl, caring “father” he is, denied the baby the medical care he needed, and baby Michael perished in that dank dungeon; it took 66 hours for him to suffer and eventually die. Was Fritzl standing there the whole time, watching this baby slowly die? Or did he go back upstairs, where there was fresh air and natural light, and wait for the baby to succumb?

Elizabeth has six remaining children, all fathered by her father; three were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, while the other three had never seen the light of day until the day they were rescued and taken to the hospital 11 months ago. Elizabeth has been described by police as a “broken woman,” who over 24 years has been raped approximately 3000 times, sometimes in front of her (their?) children.

There is so much about this case that has not yet come to light, and there are so many things about this case I don’t understand. My biggest issue, above all else, is with Mrs. Fritzl; Josef Fritzl’s wife, and Elizabeth’s mother. As has been reported in the news, when Fritzl locked his daughter in the basement, he told her mother that she had run off to join a cult. Then, over time, Elizabeth’s babies “mysteriously” arrived on their doorstep, for Josef and his wife to raise. I find it absolutely boggling that Mrs. Fritzl went along with this idea; her daughter is who-knows-where in a cult, but manages to break free long enough to drop off her unwanted babies for her parents to look after? In what world does that make any kind of sense?

Also: Why did she not question the locked door she was not permitted to open? A locked door she’s not allowed to open, a “missing” daughter, babies just appearing on the doorstep … you’d have to completely stupid, or else very deep in denial, to not realize something fishy was going on. I know it is only Josef Fritzl who has been tried here, but I think his wife now deserves some of the heat. As for Fritzl, we can only hope no panel of psychiatrists ever decides he is well enough to get out of the hospital. He can rot for life as far as I’m concerned, denied the same fresh air and freedom he once denied to his greatly-abused children.

Elisabeth Fritzl was reportedly interviewed in a secret location in Austria. The interviewed was video taped and will be shown later on in the year at her father’s trial. Elisabeth’s testimony about the 24 years she spent in a dungeon created by her father will be key evidence in his trial. I believe that her testimony will show that Josef Fritzl was not insane at all. While his personality may be unstable, his cold calculating thoughts were upheld for too long for this to be a case of insanity.

It seems that the children the Elisabeth Fritzl had as a result of rapes by her father are doing well. While the family, along with Elisabeth’s mother have been living in the psychiatric ward of a hospital guarded by police, they seem to be adjusting to life outside of the dungeon. A few of the children have had day trips that were carried out incognito. It seems that despite Josef Fritzl’s cruelty, the family has been able to function and move towards living a decent life.

The trial date for Josef Fritzl has not been announced yet but it is expect to happen soon. I am sure it will be a relieve for Elisabeth and her family to have that done and over with. Interviewing her by video tape if the best way to get the story out of her without forcing her to see her father again. Being in the same court room with her father, I’m sure, would produce terrible emotional and mental scars.

I can’t imagine that Josef Fritzl will ever see the light of day again. The insanity plea is the obvious move for his lawyer but I think that the entire world can see through the lie. There is no punishment designed for such a crime but making sure that he is not amongst the free world is vital. A lesson must be taught that such atrocities will not be tolerated.

Unfortunately is seems that these type of abuse cases, are becoming more common. While the details of this case are unique, the incest and the length of the secret, other stories similar to this one are popping up around the world periodically. The story of the family that held the woman captive for 17 years because she became pregnant appeared a few weeks after the Fritzl case broke. Stories of children being locked away in closets and kept from the world find their way into the news now and then. This dysfunction of humankind has to have a root somewhere and we need to discover what that root is and stomp it out. What makes people think that they have the right to steal someone’s life by holding them captive for years? How does the rest of the world forget about these captives? Elisabeth Fritzl’s father said that she ran away and joined a cult. He produced notes in her handwriting that vindicated his claims. I guess that, unfortunately, we must be very suspicious of those around us in such cases. It is painful to think that a father would tell such a lie to his wife and commit these heinous crimes against his children but it happened and continued for over two decades.

Kerstin Fritzl is finally able to exist outside of her induced coma. The 19 year old girl is the main reason why Elisabeth Fritzl and her two other children were discovered in the cellar where Josef Fritzl held them captive.

Waking up from the induced comas was probably pretty scary for Kerstin. I am sure that they brought her out of it slowly but when she began to grasp what was happening, I am sure that she was rather confused. Before Kerstin was taken to the hospital she had not been outside in her life. What would it be like to be 19 and have never seen the outdoors before?

Josef Fritzl’s custody has been extended and he ahs confessed that he held his daughter Elisabeth captive and raped her repeatedly over the years. Kerstin is the oldest of the children that were born to Elisabeth and her father Josef. It will be good for the other children to be able to interact with Kerstin. Up to this point the other children, their mother and grandmother have been bonding and healing one another. Kerstin who suffered great physical damage from being held captive will now be able to deal with the emotional damage.

The police have come out and said that Josef Fritzl did not have an accomplice and he worked alone. The police seem to be at a loss as to how to handle this guy. There have not been any crimes like this before so the best way to deal with it is not clear. Now that Kerstin is out of a coma, more details as to what happened in the cellar will come out.

Kerstin is one of the three Fritzl children that remained in the cellar with Elisabeth. Josef Fritzl said that the three children that lived above ground with him and his wife were ther because they were fragile babies. It is not clear why Kerstin was not taken above ground since she was obviously fragile as well. Perhaps she will be able to provide information that will lead to clues as to why she remained in the cellar.

I was shocked to find out that Josef and his wife Rosemarie had other children. Why would he pick Elisabeth to lock up? Why were the other children not more suspicious of hwat their father was telling them about Elisabeth? It seems like in a larger family, I would think that certain siblings would be closer than others. Was Elisabeth just not close to her family? The questions seem to continue to mount with the passing weeks.

Josef Fritzl will likely try to plead insanity. There are plenty of people that commit crimes that are insane but Fritzl is not one of them. He is clearly a sick man but he is not crazy. His need to control and dominate his daughter both physically and mentally just grew out control. Even though he is 73 there need to be proper punishment dealt out to this monster. He should never see another day of freedom in his life.

It seems that the human spirit has truly prevailed in the horrify Fritzl case. The children, three of whom had not seen daylight until recently appear to be finding their way through life with a positive outlook. The children who were held captive with their mother Elisabeth Fritzl have made colorful posters to send their gratitude to the people of Amstetten for their support.

Even though Kirsten is still hospitalized she appears to be hanging on and making some progress. The other children are discovering new and exciting things about life that they could not have found living in a cellar. The family is together for the first time and it seems like the glue that bounds a family is already in place in spite of the terrible situations.

The family will remain at the Amstetten-Mauer clinic for many more months. The therapy they receive will be centered around reintroductions to the world and one another. The fact that there is so much space to move around in is also something that Elisabeth and the children that were in the cellar will have to get used to. For now they are housed in an area of the clinic that has a shelter that they can retreat to when they see the need.

The crimes that Josef Fritzl committed against his daughter and his other children that are simultaneously his grandchildren, are unimaginable. Surely there were means to end her life while she sat in the cellar waiting for her father to rape her but Elisabeth held on and cared for her children. Her love for them was so strong that these children that had never known anything but cellar life seem to be ready to one day live out in the world. The fact that they are educated and loved enough to function at the level they are is remarkable.

While the terror of Josef Fritzl is undeniable, the strength and beauty of his daughter and her children is obvious. If Elisabeth and her children could survive and come out of their ordeal with hope than our problems, most of which will seem pretty trivial in comparison should not get us down. The goodness of this story that begins on such a horrible note is evident in the way that the survivors have begun to come to terms with what happened. The road to recovery will be long and the scars will linger for many years to come but the fact that they are taking on the challenge of learning to live again is beautiful.

One of the sons that had never seen the light of day before took a ride in a car and found it exhilarating. Elisabeth embraced her mother after all those years in the cellar when many of us are wondering why Rosemarie did not search harder for her daughter. I guess that when something as endless as living in a cellar for 24 years is over you don’t really think about the particulars. You just are glad for what you have