If I may interpret for YellowLabLover - she's still honing the fine art of expressing herself, and the analogy she was trying to make with the burned child is that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"; that what may be frightening or visually unpleasant to one person can be dearly loved by another, especially if it is "their own child", like she feels about her ratties. I know she didn't mean anything about humans, burnt or otherwise. She's just explaining how some people can look at a hairless rat and see something adorable because the love is already there. And yes, there are people who couldn't deal with a special needs child, and if they had a choice would probably pick a cute, healthy one. YLL was just pointing that out, not saying that she would do the same if given the choice. (She actually only wants furkids, no skinkids.) Never having had a special needs child, I can't speculate on what kind of choice I would make or judge anyone else's choice.