Brain-Dead Woman in Va. Gives Birth

[deadparrot]

RICHMOND, Va. - A brain-dead pregnant woman who has been kept on life support to give her fetus more time to develop gave birth to a baby girl Tuesday, the woman's brother-in-law said.

There were no complications during delivery and the baby "is doing well," Justin Torres wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The baby, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, weighs one pound 13 ounces and is 13 1/2 inches long, he said.

Susan Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, lost consciousness from a stroke May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain. Her husband, Jason Torres, said doctors told him his wife's brain functions had stopped.

Jason Torres quit his job to be by his wife's side, and last month her fetus passed the 24th week of development — the earliest point at which doctors felt the baby would have a reasonable chance to survive, the brother-in-law said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050802/ap_on_he_me/brain_dead_pregnancy

[merwin]

1. That's wonderful. I'm happy for his family.

However, doing that is a choice that the particular family should make and it's a shame that the religious right is most likely going to politicize this.

[rodeodance]

3. yes, lets hope that they let her go in peace (article does not say).

......Doctors had hoped to hold off on delivering the child until 32 weeks' gestation. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

The infant is being monitored in the Neonatal Intensive Care at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, about 100 miles north of Richmond.

Telephone messages left for the brother-in-law and a hospital spokeswoman were not immediately returned.

Since 1979, there have been at least a dozen similar cases published in English medical literature, said Dr. Winston Campbell, director of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center, which conducted research on the topic.

[KalicoKitty]

11. I am glad she is in VA and not FL!

[ZR2]

15. why is that ?

Wasn't it Florida that was trying to keep her alive ?

[Carni]

12. I have seen this husband interviewed and he seems like a decent guy

My interpretation was that he knew there was no hope for his wife and the only reason he was keeping her alive was so that he didn't lose both his wife and the baby.

I am glad the baby made it! It was a sad story!

[FreedomAngel82]

27. I remember hearing about this

I thought it was an interesting story. I'm glad the baby is okay too. Hopefully Frist and the gang stay away. What will happen to the wife now?

[rebecca_herman]

28. Sadly there is no hope for her :(

The intent was always to remove her from life support after the baby was born. The cancer has spread to almost all of her organs and she is brain dead. I feel terrible for the entire family. :(

[Maat]

2. Bless this guy!

I believe that he was very distraught about this situation, and said 'he hated using his wife as a vessel,' but he could not bear to lose both Wife and Baby.

He lost her, but a part of her lives on - hopefully to give him lifetime joy as a dad.

Positive energy to the family.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

4. what a great story

nt

[warrens]

5. aw, gee, 26 years old...that's so sad

I am happy the baby survived and will have a loving family.

[Ilsa]

6. I suspect she would have wanted this.

Knowing she was going to die anyway, I'm sure she would have expressed her wish that her child be born if at all possible.

[CBHagman]

23. Yes, that's what I thought.

The family has obviously suffered so much already. At least the daughter and the father will have each other.

[kitkat65]

29. I would have wanted it - bring baby to term then let me go.

And my husband would never have to feel bad about it.

[DELUSIONAL]

7. I won't criticize his decision --

I trust that he knows what his wife's wishes were.

And as another poster said -- he has some of his wife in his daughter.

Some men wouldn't want this sort of reminder -- so he must have loved her very much.

There is so much nastiness in the world -- I am sorry for this man's pain and admire his guts to take care of a baby on his own.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. This is just the saddest story

I am so glad the baby has been born and is doing well.

[msanthrope]

9. I remember the earlier thread on this....

This guy was caught in a real Catch-22: his wife wanted to give birth but had the stroke. He felt awful keeping her shell alive, but felt that she would have wanted to "live" to give her baby a chance---

and I remember that the cancer was SO aggressive, that it could have spread to the baby, which is why she was delivered so early.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. I hope the baby survives...what a difficult thing to go through for the

Torres family.

[David Zephyr]

13. Wow!

I like this story. :)

[roguevalley]

14. what a blessing. I hope they have a long and happy lie. Poor man

and his wife. very, very sad.

[rebecca_herman]

16. Great news, but so sad

I'm so glad they were able to get her past the point where a baby might survive since it sounds like it's what the mother really would have wanted. It's so sad what happened to Susan Torres though, I hope she can rest in peace now and that the baby does well and makes it. I believe the baby was born somewhere around 26 weeks or a bit past that. That would give the baby between an 80 and 90% chance of surviving.

[WildClarySage]

17. It's still awfully early, and that baby faces a lot of risks for

developmental struggles, but I'm relieved to hear that she's come this far. This family has been through so much already. I'm as far along as Susan was when the stroke hit her, and if anything happened to me, I'd want the same, to be kept going long enough to give WCSjr a chance.

There's nothing inherently political about this story, just tragic. I saw an interview with the father on the Today Show about a month or so ago, and all I felt (besides really sad for the family) was disgust at NBC for using this family's pain for ratings.

[dsc]

21. It helped him out though

in that he needed money for the medical bills which are massive.

[progressivebydesign]

18. Such a sad situation, but at least some happiness out of it.

I know that having the little girl will be some comfort to her husband and family. I'm sorry that her husband had to quit is job to be by her side... such a heartless country.

[SW FL Dem]

19. I send my best to the family in this difficult time

What mixed feelings they must have. The joy of the new baby but having to let go of the mom.

[Piperay]

20. I hope the baby makes it

I'm sure it will be a comfort to the husband to be able to raise his little girl.

[BlueIris]

22. Pregnant DUers Who Don't Have One Yet: LIVING. WILL.

Would you want to be kept alive in this condition so your fetus could develop enough to be viable outside your effectively dead body? Would you want it to be raised by your surviving spouse or partner--and whatever stranger(s) they might choose to partner with someday--if you were no longer alive? Nothing against you if you do, of course, but you should all put that in writing, so that other people don't make those decisions for you.

[Demonaut]

24. geesh, I thought Babs Bush gave birth to another brain dead *

[Horse with no Name]

25. This man had tough decisions to make

Sending healing thoughts to everyone involved.

[dhinojosa]

26. Great news, I hope the cons don't turn it political...nt