Sunday, 7 April 2013

Public Opinion


What do you think?




‘I'm keeping all four!' What this courageous mother replied when doctors said: Sacrifice two of your sons to save the others


Doctors don’t know all; Follow your instincts

The miraculous story of Emma and her husband Martin started about 2 years ago in Bristol.  She was pregnant and went for the usual checkup at 12 weeks when she was told that she was carrying 4 babies which was conceived naturally at a mind bugging odds of 750,000 to 1.

When she went for her next routine checkup, to her further surprise she learnt that of the quadruplets; 2 were identical twins.  But there ended the sweet stories as the consultant explained the dangers inherent with such level of multiple births and recommended that she either get rid of 2 of the babies or terminate the whole pregnancy.  After discussing with her husband they resolved to carry on with all 4 babies.

On her 20th week checkup she learnt that all the 4 kids were boys.  Here then comes her final temptation; for after this week she must live or die by what ever she decides now, she can’t change her mind after that date, said the consultant.  As this is the last time a termination or selective reduction would be possible she found herself in an impossible dilemma, she thought; ‘ If I abort 2 to save 2, then each time I looked at my surviving babies I’d also be thinking about the ones I’d lost.  The thought of it broke my heart’.  She however decided to soldier on, what ever.

Financially, how will she and her husband cope?  God will provide, she believed.  Last month the 4 bubbly, happy and healthy boys celebrated their one year birthday.






(Now consider the 2nd case below)




Would you give up your disabled son to allow your other children a chance of happiness? Despite agonies of guilt, Jane says it's the best decision she ever made


A mother’s anguish

Jean and her husband, Andrew, have 3 children, Tom, James and Elizabeth; they live in Birmingham where she worked as a solicitor.  In 1999 she gave birth to James, her second child, and her life and the life of the entire family changed dramatically; for James was born severely disabled with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism and he grew up to be wheel-chaired.

From the day James was born in 1999 the entire family suffered for 9 agonizing years before finally deciding to give him up in 2008.  Attending to James was so all-consuming that Jean’s other 2 children were almost forgotten and the strain almost destroyed her marriage.  James was extremely troublesome; he attacked everybody including his mother, his other siblings and even complete strangers.  He was so dreaded at home that his elder brother, Tom would refuse to join a family outing if James was coming along.  Jean had no time for any other thing, she ignored her husband and her other 2 children to be a 24-hour carer to James.

By around 2007 Jean and her husband made the decision to give up James.  Then began the struggle to get the local council to admit James as a special needs pupil and provide funding.  The parents spent over £20,000 of their hard savings on legal fees and professional assessment in their long battle to convince the local authorities that their son was disabled enough to qualify for admission and funding into a special needs residential school.

In 2008 James finally left home for this residential school and the reports his parents gets on his progress has so far been encouraging.

      





Editor’s Note:  If you want to read the full story, see my twitter page at @ Patkehinde on Tuesday, 9-4-13.  Alternatively you can send me an email at: journalists@newsbitsweekly.mygbiz.com, allow 3 days for a response.

No comments:

Post a Comment