S., a woman with a lovely little boy begins her monologue:
“It's very important for me to tell my story, it's important for you to publish such stories of ultrasound tests that were not a mistake, but nevertheless, abortion would have been wrong,” she says,
“I got pregnant, which I wanted and loved very much. I didn't do any early scans, or any other tests. My first real test was a fetal system scan late in the pregnancy which told us the fetus has a complex heart defect. He said who knows if it's possible to correct this flaw, and recommended that we abort this baby.
“As far as I was concerned, it was never an option…there was no chance that I would choose my baby's future…only G-d will determine his future and what will to happen to him. It was hard for me to stand up to my doctor's pressure, and not just his. My mother-in-law, my aunt and other people worried about me actually pressured me to abort. They even told me there are rabbis who approve abortion in such a situation from a religious standpoint as well. This knowledge made it difficult for me, but I remained strong. I told my husband there was no chance I would have an abortion. We will deal with whatever comes. My husband supported me, and was with me 100 percent, and we continued our pregnancy.
“We took fetal echo heart tests every two weeks for the duration of the pregnancy to check on the fetus and its development. Eventually the pregnancy came to term and I gave birth. For a moment he lacked oxygen and was immediately taken to intensive care, where he was placed in an incubator a week managing to live without treatment. After a week they operated on him partially repairing his heart defect. After the operation we were able to take him home.
“This was the beginning of four difficult months. Every time he cried or struggled, he turned blue and choked. It was very difficult and stressful, but at the age of 4 months we took him back to the hospital for another operation. This time the operation was a complete success. We took home our son who was almost completely healed, Thank G-d. He stopped constantly turning blue and the stress it caused us stopped.
“We had many miracles along the way, and the situation was not at all simple. We had many challenges and a lot of pressure, but I learned that even when the situation is really difficult, we get the strength to cope and go on. We can even appreciate the situation and through it connect more with God.
“Even now, this is not the end of the road. Our son must undergo more treatments and many tests, but he certainly is a gift, and it is impossible to believe that this sweet child was the fetus everyone told me to kill.
“I hope our story will help other people who are about to make this fateful decision.”