Late-Term Abortion Was the Right Choice for Me

[demmiblue]

Source: New York Times

BERKELEY, Calif. — I was 21 weeks pregnant when a doctor told my husband and me that our second little boy was missing half his heart. It had stopped growing correctly around five weeks gestation, but the abnormality was not detectable until the 20-week anatomy scan. It was very unlikely that our baby would survive delivery, and if he did, he would ultimately need a heart transplant.

<snip>

For us, the decision was about compassion for our unborn baby, who would face overwhelming and horribly painful obstacles. Compassion for our 2-year-old son, who would contend with hours upon hours in a hospital, missing out on invaluable time spent with his parents, and the death of a very real sibling. It was about compassion for our marriage. Perhaps most important, it was about our belief that parenthood sometimes means we sacrifice our own dreams so our children don’t have to suffer.

As the day of my termination approached and I felt my baby’s kicks and wiggles, I simultaneously wanted to crawl out of my skin and suspend us together in time. I wanted him to know how important he was to me, that the well of my grief and love for him would stretch deeper and deeper into the vastness of our family’s small yet limitless life. He may have moved inside me for only five months, but he had touched and shaped me in ways I could never have imagined.

<snip>

Saying goodbye to our boy was the single most difficult and profound experience of my life, and the truth is, it has come to define me. Today I am a better mother because of him. I am a better wife, daughter and friend. He made me more compassionate and more patient. He taught me to love with reckless abandon, despite the knowledge that I could lose it all.

We named him Lev, the Hebrew word for heart.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/opinion/late-term-abortion-was-the-right-choice-for-me.html?_r=0

[mercuryblues]

1. for a shit head

like trump to say what he said required a complete lack of empathy. My heart goes out to women and families that are forced to make this choice. What he said invalidated the pain they went through and are still going through.

[roamer65]

2. It is a very painful choice for a woman.

Men have absolutely no place in the decision unless asked in by the woman.

It is by invitation only.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. so many gynecologists these days who've never been to medschool, even on DU

acting as though they understand all the complications that occur during pregnancies. fuck them all.