Am I the only one?
This article is taken from the Daily Mail out of London, via the Drudge Report. It is the heartwarming story of a woman, pregnant with twins who, following her doctor's advice, decides to abort one. Here's the heartwarming part: despite repeated attempts to kill one of the twins, he held on to dear life and was born healthy. He so strongly fought the attempts to kill him the doctors nicknamed him "Rocky."
What? You're missing the feel-good aspect of this story? You think that the people involved in this whole nefarious scandal should be embarrassed, indeed horrified, by their actions and not celebrating their failure? I do too. As I read this article, I thought to myself, "Am I the only one deeply troubled by this whole ordeal? Have we gone mad when the executioners celebrate the survival of their charge?"
Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled beyond imagining that this child, Gabriel, survived. However, this should be a call to conscience for all involved and not an "ahhh, isn't this nice" story.
Questions and comments are welcome.
God love you,
Father V.
************
3 November 2007
They say twins share a strong bond - but the one between Gabriel and Ieuan Jones was unbreakable.
When doctors found that Gabriel was weaker than his brother, with an enlarged heart,and believed he was going to die in the womb, his mother Rebecca Jones had to make a heartbreaking decision.
Doctors told her his death could cause his twin brother to die too before they were born, and that it would be better to end Gabriel's suffering sooner rather than later.
Mrs Jones decided to let doctors operate to terminate Gabriel's life
.
Firstly they tried to sever his umbilical cord to cut off his blood supply, but the cord was too strong.
They then cut Mrs Jones's placenta in half so that when Gabriel died, it would not affect his twin brother.
But after the operation which was meant to end his life, tiny Gabriel had other ideas.
Although he weighed less than a pound, he put up such a fight for survival that doctors called him Rocky.
Astonishingly, he managed to carry on living in his mother's womb for another five weeks - until the babies were delivered by caesarean section.
Now he and Ieuan are back at home in Stoke - and are so close they are always holding each other's hand.
Mrs Jones, 35, a financial adviser whose husband Mark, 36, is a car salesman, said: "It really is a miracle. Doctors carried out an operation to let Gabriel die - yet he hung on.
"It was unbelievable."
"When I felt him kicking madly the morning after the operation, I suddenly knew that he was going to hang on.
"The doctors couldn't believe it when they could still hear his heartbeat the next morning."
Rebecca Jones: 'It's a miracle'
Mrs Jones learned she was expecting twins when she was ten weeks pregnant. She said: "When they told us we were over the moon."
But at her 20-week scan, doctors had some devastating news. One of the boys was half the size of his brother.
They didn't know what was causing it, but somehow he wasn't getting enough nutrients.
Then doctors said his heart was three times normal size and it was likely he would have a heart attack or a stroke in the womb.
Mrs Jones said: "They told us that if he died, it could be life threatening for his brother.
"We had to decide whether to end his life and let his brother live, or risk them both."
They said it would be impossible to keep him alive afterwards as he was so poorly.
It would be kinder to let him die in the womb with his brother by his side than to die alone after being born.
"That made my mind up for me. I wanted the best thing for him."
At Birmingham Women's Hospital, when Mrs Jones was 25 weeks pregnant, doctors tried to sever Gabriel's umbilical cord to cut off his blood supply and allow him to die.
But the cord was too thick, and they could not cut through it.
As a last resort they divided Mrs Jones's placenta so that when Gabriel died, it would allow Ieuan to survive. Mrs Jones said: "I put my hands on my stomach thinking of Gabriel. It was devastating. I had said my goodbyes."
But the next morning Mrs Jones felt Gabriel kicking. A scan showed his heart was still beating. She said: "No one could quite believe it."
Gabriel hung on, and his enlarged heart started to reduce in size. He also gained weight.
Mrs Jones said: "They thought it may be because the placenta had been divided. Inadvertently, it had evened out the distribution of nutrition between them, allowing Gabriel to survive.'
When Mrs Jones reached 31 weeks doctors carried out a caesarian to deliver the twins. Ieuan weighed 3lb 8oz and Gabriel 1lb 15oz. Both were kept in hospital, but since going home they have thrived. At seven months, Ieuan weighs 15lb and Gabriel 12lb 6oz.
Mrs Jones said: "The boys are so healthy, they have huge appetites too. Ieuan is the noisy one, while Gabriel is always laughing, it's like he's just so happy to be here.
"There is such a strong bond between them.
"They are always holding hands and if one cries, the other reaches out to comfort him." "Doctors tried to break their bond in the womb, but they just proved it couldn't be broken."
Thriving: Gabriel, right, with his twin brother Ieuan, is now a healthy 12lb 6oz at seven months
5 comments:
How callous and nonchalant of them. But does it surprise you? They are used to killing unborn children and thinking of them as things. So when one of "these" survives, it's met with the same whimsical and curious attitude that you would find when an animal can do tricks.
Tom
BTW, I typically regard the mother as a victim, too. But it's difficult with this scenario since she seems to take part in the ha! ha! of the event.
Also, who do you think brought the media into this story? If it was the pro-abortion people associated with this procedure, they know that pro-life voices would use it as an example of unborn children fighting for their lives. So knowing this and still having the audacity of involving the media, doesn’t it seem that they are quite comfortable with the idea of carrying on with their line of work while pro-lifers are powerless to stop them?
Tom
Father, I couldn't agree more with you. The way this heinous affair is portrayed as a cute little family story is sickening. This is not to judge, but you really think this would give them pause. Instead, there is no indication that anyone thinks they might have done something wrong. It shows how much the euthanising mindset is accepted without question. I can't help but think of the pain it will cause Gabriel once he realises that his own mother repeatedly tried to kill him. Perhaps - hopefully - that will be an occasion for remorse.
really rather disturbing all the way around...
a better course would have been hospitalization with round the clock fetal monitoring. If one twin DID happen to die, that would be time enough to rush in and save the other by removing the already deceased child.
It's not as though that kind of an operation is any LESS risky to the surviving twin if done before the other dies. It's a very dangerous procedure either way. One may as well wait to see if it's necessary at all.
harder for all involved?
yup.
more work for the doctors?
yup yup.
would the NHS in Britain cover such a thing as that?
NO! I think not.
so another lesson this unnerving story can help us take to heart is just what "national" health care would allow us to do medically to safeguard life.
or not.
so many catholics in the pews next to me are clamoring for gov't health coverage, as though this will end all societal ills or something but they never examine how other countries have their hands tied medically speaking. Many things are either not covered or not even allowed.
my aunt was invited years ago to do an extensive study of the National Health Service over there and this sort of route is not at all unexpected with the way things operate.
heart attack.
covered.
chronic heart disease.
not covered.
diabetic shock.
covered.
diabetes.
not covered.
removal of a risky twin in a pregnancy?
covered.
appropriate medical care to monitor such a pregnancy with both twins intact?
NOT COVERED.
is this what we americans really want for ourselves?
we better start opening our eyes because the culture of death really hasn't fully begun yet. We just think it has.
When I first read this article I was shocked that the parents would want this made public. Did they stop and think what how Gabriel will feel and react when he discovers that his mommy wanted to kill him? This is so public that chances real good that he will find out. No child should have to learn that mommy and daddy agreed to end his life.
I definately did not feel good when I read the article. I felt sick.
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