Conjoined Twins

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Conjoined twins separated

In this day and age, such surgeries are... well, not quite commonplace, but they're certainly not the earth-shattering news they were 20 years ago. This story, however, stuck a nerve - the little girls shared a set of legs, and each girl got one leg and will get a prosthesis in the future.

Truthfully, I'm happy that medical technology is able to allow these girls - and their family - to have soemthing approaching a normal life. I sincerely wish them all the best.

The kicker is this - medical technology is also able to detect such things before the babies are born. I don't think that I would have sustained the pregnancy if I knew that my baby was going to be born with a horrible defect, or a genetic condition. What would you do?

I do NOT want to second-guess the choices this family made, or pass judgment of any kind on them. The past cannot be changed, and now this family deserves nothing but our prayers for strength. Please limit your comments to what YOU would do in this situation.

 

I think I'd terminate it too. Though I'm a little biased on not wanting my line to continue (I would be a horrible father).

 

I would never ask my girlfriend to terminate the child for something as innocent as a conjoined twin, or Down syndrome.

Some things that do qualify for abortion and euthanasia are intolerable diseases. I am not talking about childs with a half hearts (that can be fixed) or failing kidneys. I am talking about children born with no brains or those that spend the rest of their lives in severe and unrelievable pain (until they day at the age of 10).

 

Then perhaps this should not be in AoDA.

I would certainly not second-guess their decision to have the children. I also would never have pushed my wife to terminate the pregnancy had my son had a serious defect -- although I would not have fought against such a decision on her part.

Hopefully, the girls will be able to enjoy a somewhat normal life. Considering how the parents have kept them in the limelight since birth and paraded the girls around like a circus act it seems unlikely though.

 

Unfortunately, in our HMO-dependant, capitalist nation, the money to provide the children their medical care has to come from somewhere......

 

If I knew such a thing would happen and the child was under 3 months since conception I would stress my partner to abort and we try to have a 'normal' child.

I don't want any of my offspring to be a drain on society.

 

Good point Drew.

 

Depends on the magnitude of the "defect".

It's pretty normal practice to get the nuchal fold scan done at 11 weeks of pregnancy. There would be no point in having that scan if it wasn't in order to determine potential issues (in this case, specifically Downs Syndrome, I believe).

It's all very tough and highly emotional stuff though and will lead us all back to that old abortion debate again, for which very few people on these Boards are fully qualified to truly argue, having probably never been put in that position themselves. Hence, I cannot say what I would do in that situation.

 

I would abort

 

My religious beliefs forbid abortion, so keeping the child would be obvious. It would scare the hell out of me, but somehow the family would pull through this. If it was felt that such defects would be likely in subsequent pregnancies, adoption would be an option as well.

 

I'd buy a potato sack and have them rule the racing circuit!

 

Hmm ... I'm not sure. I'd definately be in favour of abortion in the case of down syndrome - but conjoined twins is a bit more iffy. It's probably a good idea though...

 

That's the thing - it depends. And it is not always possible to determine the severity of the condition during the pregnancy. For something as severe as conjoined twins, I think I would say abortion would be the best course.

 

Depending on the defect I would support the woman carrying our child in her decision to abort, encourage her to do it respectively. It would be a life-long sorrow for all otherwise. Rather create something new together, which has a chance of a full experience of life's plentiness. Why allow misery where ought to be pleasure.

 

Anyone who has ever been to the 12 week ultrasound scan (which is the one where you would find out about various defects) and seen the little baby there wriggling around and waving his little hands and feet in response to being poked by the scanner would have to have a heart of stone to be able to easily make a decision about abortion. I used to think I could do it, but no longer think I could.

 

Agreed.

But perhaps it is important to think of the kind of existence the child has ahead of it... only because we failed to face the pain of loss.

And once it is born, it will have to live with its body - or mind. No turning back then.

... I dont like this topic. Too disturbing.

 

This topic IS very disturbing. I just don't like the way people think that it would be easy to be so cold and rational after having actually SEEN their baby on a screen.

 

Hmm - but on a rational level 12 weeks is far below the point when the fetus has a brain functioning at such a level where I can really consider it worth protecting as an individual human being. Of course, you're talking about the emotional level, so I guess that doesn't actually matter. I think that this is one of those things in which one must be cold and rational in order to get what's best in the long run...

 

Speaking as someone who is trying to become a father, I in no way imply that such a decision would be easy, nor that such a decision should be made lightly. Sometimes the cold, hard decisions are best in the long run, both for the child and the parents. I don't see how carrying a child to term to have it live in constant pain and die within a few years is somehow a better choice than abortion. Not only for the pain an suffering that the child will have to endure, but also for the mental well-being of the parents to have to go through that.

It is unfortunate that two members of my family (one from my side, one from my wife's side) had to suffer through the death of one of their children. They have never been the same since, despite the fact that it has been DECADES since the child died. For them it is a pain that has never gone away. (However, I will point out that in both cases the child developed a disease after birth - their deaths weren't related to some defect they were born with.) It is with this understanding that I believe that there are times when abortion is the best option.

 

Watch out there.
I'm giving you a small hypothetical situation. let's say that there is a machine that can detect the future IQ of the fetus.
Would you have it aborted if it was below 100? 120? 140?