Trisomy 18

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A mother I “know” on a message board has been told her child has Trisomy 18, which is a genetic disorder that doctors call “incompatible with life”. Many Trisomy 18 babies die before birth, most within a few weeks of birth, and all before adulthood (a few have lived to be teenagers, but all are severely disabled).

This mother has decided to have labor induced now (she’s under 20 weeks - so even a healthy baby would be unable to survive if delivered this soon). Is this considered an abortion? Or immoral even if it isn’t an abortion? Certainly the result is the death of the child. And I believe that this is the intent of the parents - that the child die now rather than later. If they were doing a D&E, I would know it was an abortion, but this induction thing threw me for a loop.

MJ
 
I’m not an expert, but I would say, yes, it is an abortion.
 
As I recall, early induced labor was a game played by some “Catholic ?]” hospitals to avoid be labeled abortionists. I think the bishops have told them to cut it out. Not sure how well they have complied.
 
If it is not too late, ask her to google and watch a video I believe is called “99 balloons”. The link was posted on this website. It is beautiful. It’s a video about a baby with Trisomy 18.
 
That video is beautiful. Unfortunately, by the time I found her post regarding this, she was already on her way to the hospital. And now I think it would just be cruel to subject her to that.

I suspected it would be considered an abortion, but wanted some other opinions. Please join me in praying for this child and family.

MJ
 
There is no such thing as ‘incompatible with life’ as the baby was alive when they made the decision to end that life. To call it an induction is to soften things in a politically correct way so as to deceive the parents and those who partake in the act that they are doing something natural. There was a similar post some months back here at CAF asking for prayers for a child who was about to be ‘induced’. The mother, a non-Catholic, posted the photos of her child on another site to ‘share’ her grief with others. This child struggled to survive for 3 to 4 hours with no intervention like oxygen, IV fluids, etc. We are to take what God provides and embrace it; not throw it away. Another murder to chalk up. May the Lord have mercy on all those involved, and especially the doctors who encourage such atrocities.

Peace be with you,

Kelly
 
I’m perplexed; 20 weeks is four-and-a-half months. Many babies have survived after being born at that age. Why can’t this one live?
 
How horrible that doctors would pressure this mom into such a thing.
 
How can this procedure legally take place? Clearly, the “induced” birth was not to the intended benefit of the child. This is an abortion, and should be legally and ethically labeled as such.

This “politically correct” euphemism is as much of a mockery of the field of medicine as abortion is a travesty against humanity.

As a Pre-Medicine student, I am absolutely disgusted.
 
strngrnrth said:
I’m perplexed; 20 weeks is four-and-a-half months. Many babies have survived after being born at that age. Why can’t this one live?
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No, it is not accurate to say “many babies have survived after being born at that age.” The OP said “under 20 weeks,” but even if it were a full 20 weeks:

preemie.info/cms/modules/news/article.php?storyid=96

"Advances in medical care have made it possible for many premature infants to survive and develop normally. However, whether or not a premature infant will survive is still intimately tied to his or her gestational age:

21 weeks or less: 0% survival rate
22 weeks: 0-10% survival rate
23 weeks: 10-35% survival rate
24 weeks: 40-70% survival rate
25 weeks: 50-80% survival rate
26 weeks: 80-90% survival rate
27 weeks: greater than 90% survival rate

Physicians cannot predict long-term complications of prematurity and some consequences may not become evident until the child is school–aged. Minor disabilities like learning problems, poor coordination, or short attention span may be the result of premature birth, but can be overcome with early intervention. The risks of serious long term complications depend on many factors including how premature the infant was at birth, weight at birth, and the presence or absence of breathing problems. The development of infection or the presence of a birth defect can also effect long term prognosis. Severe disabilities like brain damage, blindness, and chronic lung problems are possible and may require ongoing care."
 
KarenNC said:
No, it is not accurate to say “many babies have survived after being born at that age.” The OP said “under 20 weeks,” but even if it were a full 20 weeks:

preemie.info/cms/modules/news/article.php?storyid=96

"Advances in medical care have made it possible for many premature infants to survive and develop normally. However, whether or not a premature infant will survive is still intimately tied to his or her gestational age:

21 weeks or less: 0% survival rate
22 weeks: 0-10% survival rate
23 weeks: 10-35% survival rate
24 weeks: 40-70% survival rate
25 weeks: 50-80% survival rate
26 weeks: 80-90% survival rate
27 weeks: greater than 90% survival rate

Physicians cannot predict long-term complications of prematurity and some consequences may not become evident until the child is school–aged. Minor disabilities like learning problems, poor coordination, or short attention span may be the result of premature birth, but can be overcome with early intervention. The risks of serious long term complications depend on many factors including how premature the infant was at birth, weight at birth, and the presence or absence of breathing problems. The development of infection or the presence of a birth defect can also effect long term prognosis. Severe disabilities like brain damage, blindness, and chronic lung problems are possible and may require ongoing care."
Click to expand...
I am surprised. In my line and in my personal life I have a lot of medical information, and I heard that the four-and-a-half-month barrier was broken in the 1980’s. A friend of mine was born around five months, but she has birth defects. Another at six months is fine, after a while in the ICU. I had no idea they were unusual.
 
strngrnrth said:
I am surprised. In my line and in my personal life I have a lot of medical information, and I heard that the four-and-a-half-month barrier was broken in the 1980’s. A friend of mine was born around five months, but she has birth defects. Another at six months is fine, after a while in the ICU. I had no idea they were unusual.
Click to expand...
As you can see, every week and indeed every day makes a difference at that point in terms of maturation of the baby and potential for survival. For instance, “around 5 months” can be anywhere from 20 to 24 weeks and “six months” can be from 24 to 28 weeks. It will also make a difference if that baby is 23 weeks and one day vs. 23 weeks and 6 days, whether it is a multiple or singleton pregnancy, amount of medical intervention available before birth (was there time for the mother to be able to be given steroids to help mature the lungs), even the gender as girls tend to do a bit better than boys in terms of survival from material I have seen.

bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7217/1093
gives a chart including birthweight as a factor as well as gestational age, as well as discussing the gender factor (this was in European and Asian infants).

I worked for several years in early intervention services for children ages birth to three who either had or had a high risk of developmental disabilities. This included children who were born extremely early (we saw them after they came home from the hospital and if their physicians determined they needed followup for developmental issues). Over that time period, the earliest born children we saw were usually in the 27-28 week range. I only saw one child who had been born in the 23 week range and she had extreme disabilities.
 
A couple at our church had a baby with Trisomy 18. Their faithful response to their child’s tragic diagnosis was so beautiful, I had to share it.

They found out about the trisomy 18 at about 20 weeks. Their doctors immediately told them to abort because the condition was “incompatible with life”, “the child was horribly mishappen and disfigures”, there was no reason to continue the pregnancy and force the mom to carry a child who couldn’t live, etc… They didn’t have an abortion. They were devastated but felt that there must be a reason and a purpose to their child’s life. They decided to see the pregnancy through to a natural end.

The mom carried the baby all the way through the 9th month. She had frequent ultrasounds and checkups on the baby since it was obviously high risk but nothing invasive. She suffered everyday because she knew that her baby wouldn’t live after birth, but she also knew that each day was a gift because it was one more day God had given her with her child. On Good Friday the baby died during an ultrasound (not caused by the ultrasound but they were able to p(name removed by moderator)oint the exact moment). The mom went home and waited with her family to go into labor. Early Easter Sunday morning, she went into labor and the baby was stillborn a few hours later. Imagine the peace and consolation this mother had to know that her baby died on Good Friday and was born(symbolically) into Heaven on Easter Sunday Morning. If she had aborted the baby at 20 weeks, she would never have had this grace, but she would have still felt the pain of losing the baby to trisomy 18 as well as the guilt and pain of ending the life through abortion.
 
This case wasn’t Trisomy 18, but my friend’s brother was supposed to be born with numerous defects (blindness, deafness, other physical limitations) and his mother was told to abort the child. She decided not to, in the end.

Today he’s a more-than-healthy athlete and successful high school student with almost no birth-defect-type problems (I believe the only thing attributed to his pre-birth issues is his need to wear glass to read).

A doctor telling a mother to abort a child based on “medical” expectations is like executing a 9-year-old minority because he’s statistically probably to become a murder someday.

While Trisomy 18 may, admittedly, be more certain [than my friend’s brother’s case] to impact the child after birth, the point still stands.
 
My husband’s nephew and wife have a dd with Trisomy 18. Shania is now all of 3 years and is such a blessing to the family. Admittedly she has her disabilities i.e. not being able to sit up on her own, her motor development is that of an infant of 6 months. Nevertheless, Shania responds to all of us with so much love because she has been given that love right from birth.
Praise God that her dear parents chose to put their faith in God and perserver. Shania has taught us the fundamental lesson of trusting in God.
 
nova147 said:
That video is beautiful. Unfortunately, by the time I found her post regarding this, she was already on her way to the hospital. And now I think it would just be cruel to subject her to that.

I suspected it would be considered an abortion, but wanted some other opinions. Please join me in praying for this child and family.

MJ
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:crying:

I am crying and praying.

I can’t imagine doing that to my child. No matter what was wrong with the child, I would leave it all in God’s hands and not my own, I couldn’t live with myself if I had taken my child’s life. I will most definitely pray for your online friend.

I had a miscarriage at 9 weeks (well, had two, first one I was allowed to loose on my own), but my doctor wanted to do a D&C, and I had horrible nightmares that nothing was wrong with my child and that I had aborted my baby…I can’t tell you how many times I made the doctor show me the ultrasound and prove to me that my baby was dead…

aaaww…my heart aches.
 
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