{"id":312257,"date":"2024-05-13T12:47:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T17:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=312257"},"modified":"2024-05-13T01:41:32","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T06:41:32","slug":"doctors-pressured-uk-mother-abort-twin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctors-pressured-uk-mother-abort-twin\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors pressured this UK mother to abort one twin. She’s so glad she didn’t listen."},"content":{"rendered":"
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For years, mothers have been increasingly encouraged to abort their babies after a diagnosis of a genetic abnormality or birth defecs that would require a life-saving surgery at birth. Two years ago in Penrith, Cumbria of England, Marie Stockdale was <\/span>offered an abortion<\/span><\/a> after it was discovered that one of her preborn children had conditions that would require surgery soon after birth.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 35, Marie was overjoyed to find herself pregnant with twins. The baby\u2019s father, Paul Kipling, 48, was also very excited and supportive of the news. The couple already formed a family with Paul\u2019s two children from a previous relationship, ages 11 and 13. <\/span><\/p>\n

All was well until Marie went in for her 20-week prenatal check-up. The provider determined that one of the twins, Ava, had a <\/span>greater amount of amniotic fluid<\/span><\/a> around her than her sister, Mila. Attempting to fix the problem, the doctors released some of the fluid only to have the fluid levels rise again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They concluded that this must mean that Ava had a birth defect called <\/span>esophageal atresia with a tracheoesophageal fistula<\/span><\/a> (EA), since she was unable to swallow the amniotic fluid at the same rate as Mila. In layman\u2019s terms, this means during fetal development, the esophagus doesn\u2019t complete its connection to the top of the stomach and instead creates a \u201cpouch\u201d of sorts. A trachea-esophageal fistula is when the upper part of the malformed esophagus begins to form to the trachea (the windpipe) instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Cleveland Clinic, EA is a more common birth defect with about 1 in every 3,500 babies affected. The defect can cause eating problems, respiratory distress, and other symptoms that are life-threatening. <\/span><\/p>\n

On top of this, Ava also showed signs of a developmental brain condition called <\/span>rhomboencephalosynpasis<\/span><\/a>. This malformation of the cerebellum can lead to issues such as \u201c<\/span>motor developmental delay, ataxia, swallowing difficulties, muscular hypotonia\u2026\u201d<\/span> and more<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hearing this news, Marie and Paul were disheartened but <\/span>refused the abortion<\/span><\/a> option presented to them. \u201cBecause the condition is so rare, doctors had no idea how severely it would affect her, and I was offered a termination\u2026” Marie said. “It was never an option, though; I had to give her a chance to fight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n