Huffpo: "I'm From Alabama And Gave Birth To My Rapist's Child Because I Couldn't Get An Abortion"

[hlthe2b]

this one is incredibly heart-breaking. She delivers a severely brain-damaged child and has to care and watch her linger in tremendous pain for a year before finally dying. These stories must be shared and publicized

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I was 17 when I was raped by a classmate. He was someone I knew, someone I trusted, but in the end, none of that mattered. I would not find out until eight months later that I was pregnant as a result of the assault. My daughter, Zoe, would grow inside of me with a fatal congenital birth defect that took away her ability to think, or emote, or connect to the world in all the fundamental ways that make a life worth living.

--snip--
I become pregnant from this rape, but I will not know until it is much too late. I lose weight. It is not uncommon for me to go months without a cycle because I am an athlete, and have an undiagnosed hormonal disorder that I will not know about for 10 more years. --snip--

She diagnoses my unborn daughter with hydranencephaly, explaining how her cerebrum failed to divide into two separate hemispheres, and instead filled with cerebrospinal fluid. The only reason she continues to experience some degree of development is because the cerebellum and brainstem are ensuring the most rudimentary of functions to sustain her precarious life. If she is born, she will suffer and die so very, very young ― and I step off the ledge. The doctor tells me that in spite of this, I cannot receive an abortion that will prevent this pain ― both hers and my own. Alabama does not make exceptions for these cases at this stage of pregnancy, and going out of state is beyond my family’s means ― and I fall down and down and down.--snip--

I have a front row seat to my daughter’s suffering for an entire year ― the grief moves toward us day by day, merciless and unstoppable. Every other moment until her final one, she lives in pain. I wake to change her diaper in the morning and I find an angry red rash that had not been there five hours ago. I apologize to her, my tears falling on the collar of her onesie as I smear hydrocortisone on her. Even this sort of stimulus to pain sends her into a tonic seizure. Her legs stiffen, her body locks so tight I’m afraid her bones will break. She is diagnosed with diabetes insipidus. She has to have her IV placed in the vein along her skull, because every other vein collapses as soon as it’s touched. Her body is swollen from being unable to regulate its own fluids. She hardly looks like herself. I hold her hand in my open palm, stroking over the distention of her skin. I can’t make out her tiny knuckles.

Please honor her courage in coming forward by reading the entire account at the link below:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alabama-abortion-law-rape_n_5cdc3627e4b09d94af53f471

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Link, please?

[hlthe2b]

4. Added, sorry.

[backtoblue]

2. .

Will read the whole article later..

[RhodeIslandOne]

3. "I would not find out until eight months later"

With a lack of health care and sex education thrown in to boot.

Fucking Alabama.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. She explains in the article that it's because she was an athlete, and it wasn't unusual for her

cycle to stop, and she also had an undiagnosed hormonal imbalance.

[proud patriot]

5. Man that was difficult to read

I've shared it as far an wide as I can ...

[Hugin]

7. K&R

So very sad.

[hlthe2b]

8. This is why even bans on LATE TERM abortion should not be tolerated.

The polls continually show that the RW is winning in spinning it as infanticide. It is nothing of the kind. But, it does preempt horrendous pain for both nonviable child and Mother.

[Initech]

9. OMG. This is why I utterly despise the Christian right.

That is beyond cruel.

[smirkymonkey]

10. That was really hard to read.

I can't believe what this poor woman was forced to endure because of the sick, narrow minded legislators of her state. They have no fucking clue what the fallout from this will be.

[Goodheart]

11. After passing along this story, my "pro-life" fundamentalist niece just responded to me with this:

"[Uncle Gerald], her choice was adoption. She was not forced to care for a child she did not want."

[hlthe2b]

12. Good gawd. And who exactly did they think would have adopted a child with such horrific brain damage

The cluelessness (callousness?) is just unbelievable.

[Goodheart]

13. And as if that's going to relieve anybody's pain or save a life, anyway.

[tulipsandroses]

14. You know the no exception for rape/incest rule except for danger to woman's life is ridiculous

I would argue that rape in itself is a danger to the woman's life. Rape/incest put's a woman/girl at risk for suicide!

Mental health issues and substance abuse.

[phylny]

15. I worked with a child with severe birth defects.

I'm changing some of the details, but the pertinent facts are correct. Child was born basically without the middle of his face. Almost cyclops. Couldn't suck, so no pleasure/soothing/eating. Probably couldn't see. Probably couldn't hear. Had seizures every day - 50 or more. Kept alive with a feeding tube and suctioning. Baby died at around age two. He knew nothing in his life but pain and what little comfort his family could try to give him as they held him, touched him and rubbed lotion on him. I'm glad he's no longer in pain.