I received this email from a pregnant. With her permission, I will share what she wrote:
My baby was just diagnosed with Encephalocele. They keep asking me if I want to abort the pregnancy. I just wanted to know what they did to the baby. He's at 20 weeks gestation. I guess they are so cold hearted about the whole thing because this baby isn't theirs. They don't love him like I do! I can't do that! My baby will be born and baptized and be given a name and a birth certificate and a decent Christian burial. I just wonder why they keep on assuming that I will abort the pregnancy!
In a second email she wrote:
The thing is that since they told me that the baby had this condition, "encephalocele", I have been doing a lot of research on this condition and I have become reasonable optimistic regarding the prognosis. From what I understand, there could be a gentetic DNA link as in down syndrome. However, there may not be. During the level 2 ultrasound they found a sack of fluid on the back of my baby's head. The examining doctor told me that it was because the cranium didn't close completely. However, in this sack there was no brain matter. The baby's brain is still inside his skull. If his brain starts leaking into the sack of fluid that is when it becomes dangerous. At that point it is almost inevitable that there will be mental retardation. But that hasn't happened yet! The examiner also looked for certain other malformations that almost certainly will go with the condition if it is genetic, like cleft pallete for example, yet didn't find any. All they saw was this sack at the back of the baby's head. I since learned that medicine has advanced greatly in this area. That even at 23 weeks gestation they have had successful in-utero surgery on baby's with spina bifida. I feel that there is a possibility that my baby may be a good candidate for this surgery. If it is only that sack at the back of his head and there is no brain matter in the sack and therefore no mental retardation, then why cant they do the operation? Instead, I am sitting here day after day after day waiting for the amniocentisis to come back just waiting and waiting (it should have come back already). The doctors are advising me to abort the pregnancy. I wouldn't do that anyway even if the prognosis was the worst case scenerio because as I already said, even though the body and brain is malformed, my baby still has a soul and he needs to be baptized before he dies if that is possible. So, my question is: Why are they taking there dear sweet time when they should be in such a rush to save this baby if at all possible and why are they trying so hard to have me abort the pregnancy and trying to push this on me so hard? I can't get anyone to talk to me! I want to know if my baby can be saved and what can be done before it is too late! Before his brain starts going into this sack on the back of his head!
I suspect the answer is that it's probably cheaper and simpler to abort than to treat your baby like the human being that he is and get him the surgery.
I suspect you're in a difficult situation, because I'd be tempted to leave these doctors. If you respect me, then respect my unborn child! I know it can be hard to find doctors. That's not a judgment on you!
Readers, let's pray for this lady and her baby. It seems the culture of death has made it okay to treat the baby as dispensable and not part of her family.
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