Medical science has succeeded in replacing diseased, injured and traumatized human parts, experimented in transplanting animal parts, and is now using machine parts to bring sound to the world of silence. Cochlear implants may have given the gift of sound to many deaf children, but many people feel that the gift is a Trojan Horse. This invasive surgery is a cause for division among some members of the deaf and hearing communities, and a contentious issue for bioethicists. Proponents of the implants see the use of this technology as an important attempt to allow deaf children to integrate into the hearing world.
Males are almost twice as likely to be hearing impaired as females.
Karen Nakamura's Deaf Resource Library Contains some of the above links plus a whole lot more.