if you knew your unborn child was going to be disabled, would you have an abortion?

Answer 1

Nope,never..your child having a disability is never an excuse to end the childs life no matter what,they cans till feel and love regardless...so,women who would make that choice,i guess if there nextchildren had disabilities as well they would abort them too until they had a baby that is considered "normal in there eyes"?I couldnt do it,thats all i know..

Answer 2

No. My daughter passed away 14 hrs after birth. I will NEVER forget that wonderful time I got to spend with her. Every child deserves a chance at life, even if that life is very short. I now have her footprints, handprints, a lock of hair, and some pictures. I would have none of that if she had been aborted. I never could have lived with myself if I knew I took my child's life. Abortion is sooo painful for the baby. The heart starts beating on the 21st day, brainwaves are present in the 5th week. The baby has all his fingers and toes and looks completely human by week 10! There are many families who desperately want to adopt disabled children. If you feel the child would grow up better in an adoptive family then that is the best thing to do. I know firsthand what it's like to feel that your child might not even survive birth. It's the scariest thing I have ever been through, but she deserved that chance. I will forever be glad that I gave her that chance. Go to yahoo and type in fetal development. Then you can type in abortion pictures and abortion stories. Please get all the facts before making any decisions. If you need any help making this decision we can talk privately. Just let me know!
Tanya
P.S. I just wanted to add that my latest pregnancy showed that my baby had a possible open spine. They thought that he would probably pass away shortly after birth.....He was perfectly healthy, and so was his twin brother!!!!! I was told I needed to think about abortion during this pregnancy. They are both 3yrs old now and very healthy active, loving little boys! The tests are NOT perfect. My levels were elevated because there was 2 babies in there! My mother-in-law went through her pregnancy trying to decide if she should abort. Her baby was PROVEN to have downs syndrome through an amniocentesis.....Her daughter does NOT have downs, she is perfectly healthy!!. I also have a friend who had FIVE ultrasounds, all showing she was having a boy. All the boy clothes and stuff was ready when she delivered a DAUGHTER! And she looks normal "down there", nothing like a boy! The tests are NOT always right. I also have a friend who's test was right. There son was born with sever handicaps. He only lived for 5 short years. We all miss him very much. We are all so thankfull to have been touched by one of God's angels.

Answer 3

I have worked with some extraodinary individuals that many would call severely mentally and physically disabled, and with some of them it was very hard to tell if they had any awareness of their surroundings and therefore any real quality of life. However I have to say that almost 90% of them had incurred their 'disabilities' through complications at birth. Although I have to say that most of them were between 20 -30ish at that time and this meant that ultrasound scans were rare and so it is hard to say whether they had disabilities in the womb and therefore a difficult birth or whether it was a difficult birth caused the disabilities. The only thing that we knew for certain is that the babies suffered varying degrees of oxygen starvation during the labour.
Having experience of these individuals, I would say that I would continue a pregnancy irrespective of Dr's warnings and prognoses. My opinion is that the label 'Down Syndrome' doesn't come close to describing the child, nor does 'spinabifida', or 'motor neurone'.
Living, caring and being in a relationship with someone with multiple difficulties can be stressful, thankless and extremely hard work. . . . but that's exactly what being a Mum is!! There are still many, many help agencies who are willing to support Mums and Dads who have children that need additional help.

Personally I view any child as a gift . . . all children are wonderful.

Answer 4

I don't believe there is a right or wrong answer to this question, as every mother, father, child and family are different, and the term 'disability' covers a huge spectrum.
A lot depends on the circumstances. How disabled are we talking? I personally, would prefer never to have an abortion, but if the doctors told me my baby was going to be in a vegetative state with no quality of life, and no hope of improvement, then I would have to seriously consider my options. The circumstances of the family are also important, such as whether there are any other children. A disabled child will affect every member of the family, not just the parents.

Answer 5

My answer would have been different 6 years ago, but today I would say no. My sister has had two disabled children. One died at two weeks old and she was an amazing blessing that totally changed my life. I also have a nephew who is going to be 4 and he has changed my life as well. My nephew cannot sit, crawl, stand, talk, eat, or see very well but he has brought an amazing amount of joy to the lives of everyone he has ever met. He is an extremely loving and happy child and has a great quality of life. His disability is not very understood as it is very rare so that makes us appreciate his time here even more. Each child is a blessing and you would be amazed at what you can learn from a disabled child. It opens your heart and mind in so many new ways. I would never abort any child of mine regardless of the situation.

Answer 6

It would entirely depend on how disabled the child was likely to be.
As a general rule I am very much anti abortion I believe that everything has a reason for being here and a right to life
BUT
I have worked in a school with children with profound and multiple disabilities.
One young man who thankfully has recently died at the age of nineteen was deaf, blind he couldn't eat food so was fed via a tube into is stomach. He had up to 70 epileptic fits a day his colon was severely ulcerated as was his oesophagus he was in pain from the moment he was born until the moment he died. Unless he was sleeping which was only for a couple of hours at a time. His family had absolutely no quality of life as they needed to care for him 24 hours a day seven days a week. Unfortunately when he was six his mother fell pregnant again, she had tests and was assured the baby she was carrying was fine. His sister was born with the same but not quite so sever disabilities and is now in constant pain with the addedd disability of brittle bones .
If either of these young people were animals and allowed to live in this agony the owners would be prosecuted for animal cruelty.
Their mother is at the end of her tether and my sympaties go out to her. If she had known what agonies her children were to suffer she would have terminated the pregnancies and I would not have been able to hold it against her. Thankfully all of my children are well and healthy and I count my blessings.
Every one must make their own decisions based on fact and as long as they feel they have had the abortion for the right reason then I guess that is their perogative and no one has the right to say differently.
If you are in this situation I wish you all the best in the world whatever you decide to do.
x

Answer 7

I was told at 9 weeks that my daughter would be born with turners and down syndrome. I felt that their was nothing wrong even at the persistance that i get an abortion i wouldn't. My daughter was born healthy and normal. The point is i was prepared to take care of my a disabled child because she would by MY child. If the pregnancy was life threatening than maybe i would have terminated MAYBE....I doubt it. It's not what the doctors say it is what and how you feel. You know your body better than anyone else. I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 8

i don't have kids of my own for that matter; however if that was the case, then my answer to this would be no, i wouldn't have an abortion. i would never beyond my wildest dreams consider terminating the life of my child, if he/she had been born blind, deaf or physically disabled in any other way. and just because they are disabled doesn't mean they don't deserve a life of their own and be able to do the same things as the other children. i'd still do my very best to provide the very best for my child(ren) and give them an opportunity to experience life. a number of pregnant women resort to having an abortion for various reasons. one example where i feel it may be legitimate in doing so, would be if say, the child was so poorly and ill, no type of drug or medication could cure him/her and make them feel better. in other words, they'd be in a no-win situation and the chances are, the doctors would have no option but to turn off the life saving machine. good question btw

Answer 9

You know what unless you are in that situation you can't give a for sure answer to that question. Personally I don't think abortion is right but if someone told me I would give birth to a child ho would live a life of pain only to die who knows what I would choose. A average disability I probably wouldn't because most children with disabilities are so happy and loving under the care of parents who really love them.
I hope this is a in general question and you are not facing this choice. If you are please seek guidance from a counselor who can't make the descision for you but can help support you through it.

Answer 10

No, no way. I don't know about everyone else, but even at 10 weeks pregnant (hell even way back when I found out at 4 weeks!) I know this is my baby. This is my child. And no matter what I'm going to love it, and raise it, and do my best to keep it safe, healthy, and happy regardless of any conditions. That's part of what being a parent is all about! It's not my choice anymore, my choice was to have unprotected sex, now there is a life in me I have to think about and shape my life around.

If you didn't want a baby to begin with, that's a diffrent story...How can you love and scarafice your life for something your going to forever resent deep deep down. I've known too many people who have their babies insted of getting abortions or putting it up for adoption because "it's the right thing to do". But they and their familes are never happy. I can't imagine what that situation would be like if the child were handicap as well...horrible!

I hope this answers your question.

Answer 11

If your 'normal' child became disabled due to illness or accident would you kill it? Having a disability does not mean that a child will have a bad life, look at what Tammy Grey the disabled marathon athlete, Steven Hawkins the scientist have achieved. Should Christopher Reeve have been killed when his injury was found to be irreversible?

What I'm getting at is that for me the answer is no, the reason (in a form I can present here without boring the pants off everyone) is presented above.