Friend Is Considering Abortion

[Archaeology cat]

Praying

[cmotherofpirl]

http://ndolofamily.blogspot.com/2013/02/celestes-birth-story.html

 

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I'm on the leadership team for a local [secular] mom's group and just found out that one of our members is going through a really rough pregnancy.  It seems that the child has some kind of genetic disorder where the brain doesn't completely form and it's unlikely that she'll survive for very long outside the womb.  This mother is really heartbroken and her doctor has recommended that she 'terminate' the pregnancy.  

 

anyone here have any advice?

 

This is a mother who had the same (or a very similar) pre-natal diagnosis. 

 

"....at an 18-week ultrasound, they discovered that the baby Micah was carrying had a condition called anencephaly. This meant that their daughter had not developed a major portion of her brain, skull and scalp. Doctors said she would not survive outside of the womb. 

Micah's doctor immediately suggested abortion. And though Micah and Kyle refused at first, Micah confessed that for a week following the diagnosis, abortion actually seemed like the more attractive option. She feared that it would be more painful to carry the child to term and deliver a stillborn than to simply "terminate the pregnancy" at 18 weeks.  "I was carrying a baby that would more than likely not even be born alive. My daughter couldn’t survive outside of the safe haven I had created for her,” she said. “It took months before I came to terms with my decision to carry. I was constantly faced with questions. Why? How?"

 

Yet Micah began to understand the answers to these painful and difficult questions. "Why? Because no matter what, she was my daughter. There was a life inside of me and I couldn’t just take that away from her. She didn’t choose to have this happen to her, so how could I choose to end her life to save myself from more heartache? “How? Just go on with every day life! The bottom line was simple. She was alive she had a life and it was my job as a mother to give her the best life she could possibly have."

 

During her pregnancy, Micah was astounded at the insensitivity of people she encountered. "Many people were so rude about the idea of carrying a baby that wasn’t meant to live outside the womb. The amounts of comments I got like, 'why don’t you just abort?' People seemed to think by aborting it would be easier. It would somehow just go away, like it never happened." 

But Micah knew that carrying her baby was the only option she had. 

 

"I explained to them, 'I would rather endure the heartache that is surely to come if I carry her because at least I can give her a fighting chance.'" 

 

Micah and Kyle had three and a half hours with their daughter. They were astonished to discover Ambra's beautiful and familiar features. 

 

"Throughout my pregnancy it was important for me to not mourn her. She was still alive and I wasn’t going to mourn her until she was gone." 

 

"I got to meet my daughter, to hold and kiss her. I couldn’t imagine not being able to share those few hours with her."

 

Full article: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pregnant-at-17-with-a-baby-doomed-to-die-at-birth-but-she-chose-life

 

Prayers most of all. 

[missionseeker]

http://www.koaa.com/news/baby-born-without-a-brain-lives-for-first-birthday/#_

 

 

 

[MarysLittleFlower]

I'm on the leadership team for a local [secular] mom's group and just found out that one of our members is going through a really rough pregnancy.  It seems that the child has some kind of genetic disorder where the brain doesn't completely form and it's unlikely that she'll survive for very long outside the womb.  This mother is really heartbroken and her doctor has recommended that she 'terminate' the pregnancy.  

 

And we all know what that means.

 

Does anyone have any advice as to how to counsel her?  I'm not a doctor so I'm not sure if she'll listen to me when her doctor is telling her to terminate, even though it's disgraceful that this passes for 'healthcare.'

 

anyone here have any advice?

 

that's so sad :(

 

I found this article very moving. http://www.lifesitenews.com/meet-celeste-born-at-22-weeks-she-only-lived-3-hours-but-her-life-changed-t.html

Just how the family showed so much love to the baby though she only lived 3 hours.

 

If someone were in this situation, I'd maybe talk to them about how even if a baby only lives a short time, if that time is filled with love, that is what the family would remember. They would remember how they just showed love to this baby, like Celeste... I'd maybe share the article with them too. It's also a way to properly say goodbye. Importantly if we think about the baby: how at least their life, though brief, would be one of love, and being held by their mother and father - not being killed in the womb :(

 

I find it really sad how there's such a mentality about this that the person should abort. How is killing the baby a solution? :( and it's making their last moments into moments of extreme pain, rather than love. It's just so heartbreaking :(

Edited June 9, 2013 by MarysLittleFlower

[MarysLittleFlower]

I'd also say that we don't know the future and if the diagnosis is correct. We need to give the baby a fighting chance.

 

(Even if it is, that doesn't make any justification for abortion... there is no justification. We can't take the life of another, because they might not live a long time. Or because they're so called "unwanted". Or because they have down syndrome. Or because they're not "convenient" to us.)

Edited June 9, 2013 by MarysLittleFlower