Terminal Pregnancy Interview

"A middle aged mother who went through a traumatic birthing experience shares her story with us to help other birth givers to know they are not alone. "

Can you tell me about your experience with a terminal pregnancy?

I was very excited to find out I was pregnant with my first child, in the fall of 1998. All of my prenatal appointments were going very well and I was told to expect a routine pregnancy. I was scheduled for an ultrasound when the baby was 22 weeks old and I immediately knew there was a problem. They left the ultrasound room to get the doctor and my heart sank. The next 2 weeks were filled with more ultrasounds and consultations with maternal-fetal medicine professionals. My baby had a condition called Turner’s Syndrome and had a very severe form. The brain and heart were not developing and I was told that the baby would die, in my womb, at any time. I was starting to feel very sick and they attributed my sickness to the process of my body trying to hold onto a dying baby. I was told that it would be in my best interest, health wise, to have an “induction”. At the time, I never thought of what I was doing as having an abortion. I knew I was being induced and I knew I would not deliver my baby alive. It remains one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life and it was only a couple of years ago that I realized that what I endured would, in today’s language”, be considered an abortion.

What would've happened if you didn't have the medical procedure?

If I didn’t have this medical procedure, I would have continued to get sicker as my body was trying to hold onto this pregnancy. I was told that the longer I went without having the procedure, the higher chance there was of me having life-threatening consequences and possibly even death.

What are your thoughts on roe v wades overturning being a woman who has gone through a traumatic pregnancy and just a woman in general?

As a woman who personally went through this heartbreaking experience, I cannot imagine not having the choice to make a decision that potentially saved my life. My baby was never going to live outside the womb and by continuing to carry this pregnancy, each day I risked my own death. As a woman, I have always been pro-choice, even before my experience. I firmly believe that NO ONE has the right to mandate what a woman does with her own body. All the penis does to cause pregnancy is ejaculate inside a woman and then the next nine months are all the woman. Women have the absolute right to make decisions concerning pregnancy since it is their body that is affected for nine months and beyond.

How do you think this will affect future generations living in a country without abortion access?

I believe we will see back-alley abortions make a comeback and more women will die from procedures performed in unsanitary and unsterile conditions by someone who is not properly trained.

Do you think we can undo what has been done by the supreme court? Or is it too late? Do you think our country is moving backward?

I believe we still have time to turn this around but that is becoming a bigger IF by the day. The political climate in this country continues to allow the archaic ideas of the past to become popular again. We have learned from our many mistakes but are allowing a group of people to return our society and culture to a time of BIG government and that is very dangerous.

Where can we go from here? Do you have any advice or wisdom for women struggling with this subject?

Now is the time for women to demand that their voices are heard. Women who have gone through this very experience in their own lives must not be afraid to speak up and share. We NEED to do whatever we can in order to help the younger generations maintain/regain their reproductive rights.