topic Re: To have or not to have in Community Spirit

To have or not to have

newstart2380 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:19:23 GMT

A couple with 7 children are having a baby with 2 faces in July, both parents on welfare have decided whatever will be will be. The baby girl has one body, 2 arms, 2 legs, one heart and the only difference is that the baby will have 2 faces with 4 eyes. there have been only 35 known cases in the world and none have survived, they had the option to abort. What pressures does this put on all other members of the family ?

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:23:50 GMT

What pressure does what put on all other members of the family?

the choice about abortion or the impact of a family member who looks a little bit different to them?

Re: To have or not to have

cherry*135 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:29:30 GMT

2 faces - one head? A rare condition called craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces.

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:29:39 GMT

I watched a documentary about a set of 16 year old conjoined twins.

I'm sure their difference to what is considered to be "normal" presented many challenges, not just to the family but to the law as well, but they had a very happy life very similar to what most "normal" kids would have.

They went to school, had friends, boyfriends, got their driving licence, all the normal stuff that kids do, so I say that unless this little bub's life is at risk, then any issues that the rest of the family may face, they will have to learn to deal with, as I am sure they will.

Regardless of the difference in each of us, and some of those differences can be quite profound, including differing levels of disability, our family and society needs to learn to deal with us as we do our best to deal with them and any of their prejudices or other challenges that may be presented.

Life is challenging for all people, there is no reason why this little one shouldn't get a shot at it,.

Re: To have or not to have

spotweldersfriend — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:30:09 GMT

Sounds very cubist to me

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:31:23 GMT

@am*3 wrote:
2 faces - one head? A rare condition called craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces.

mmmm, I already know some people like that, it's not such a rare condition after all, eh?

They seem to get on with their lives ok.

Re: To have or not to have

newstart2380 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:34:50 GMT

@crikey*mate wrote:
@am*3 wrote:
2 faces - one head? A rare condition called craniofacial duplication, where a single head has two faces.

mmmm, I already know some people like that, it's not such a rare condition after all, eh?

They seem to get on with their lives ok.

Only in neck knock

Re: To have or not to have

newstart2380 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:52:08 GMT

i know a family which has 3 children, one is severely disabled and it was diagnosed before birth. they decided to have this child and as beautiful as he/she might be it has cost the family dearly. Most families which have a child with a disability do not survive and the parents separate as this family is doing. it is a massive strain on all other members of the family but in particular the other siblings who miss out on so much. if i knew i was having a child with a severe disability and knowing what I now know I would seriously consider termination for the sake of my other children and partner.

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:59:06 GMT

Well then, if I had have made that same decision, the world would have missed out on a pretty amazing person.

ok, I'm out. too close to home for me and this won't end well.

Thankfully perhaps, you were never in the position to need to make such a decision.

This child, from what you have written, there is no different to any other child other than their face looks a little bit different. It is hardly a severe disability.

The breakdown of the marriage is indicative only of a lack of strength in the marriage and of at least one the people involved.

and as for the other siblings missing out. nope, not going there either.

Re: To have or not to have

the_great_she_elephant — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:13:53 GMT

I'm not quite sure I understand this. The parents want the child. Does there socio-economic status havie any bearing on whether they should be permitted to continue with the pregnancy.

Since none of us have ever met this family I don't see how we can have any idea what pressures they may or may not be under. Unless the baby is going to need full time care for the rest of his/her life then then presumably the financial pressures are not going to be significently greater than if it was a 'normal' child, and the emotional pressures are not going to be any greater than they would be on a family with one child and a good income.

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:19:13 GMT

Put this into You Tube Search.

Abigail & Brittany Hensel - The Twins Who Share a Body

Re: To have or not to have

j*oono — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:28:32 GMT

If there have only been 35 know cases in the world and none have survived then most likely the impact on the rest of the family will be just the same as a normal still birth, which would be pretty dreadful.

I would have terminated the pregnancy.

Re: To have or not to have

cherry*135 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:35:16 GMT

A baby with this rare condtion will be most likely be stillborn. The longest a baby with this condition has lived appears to be 2 months (India).

Pressures on the family.. sadness & grief.

Re: To have or not to have

lloydslights — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:39:48 GMT

I admire any family that has a "special" child. Not only is the child special, but so is the family unit.

Personally, I know I don't have the patience.

So given that Medicine has progressed to the stage that a parent can make a decision as to whether to proceed with the pregnancy, I would opt for the termination.

DEB

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:42:01 GMT

many disabilities bring with them a shorter than average life expectancy, should those children be denied the right to life to save their siblings or partents from experiencing sadness and grief at some point in the future?

Surely the abortion itself would bring sadness and grief?

Sadness and grief are a part of life, as is loss of people we love.

The girls in that video up there - are now 24, how old have most other conjoined twins survived for?

Re: To have or not to have

j*oono — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 09:52:13 GMT

We only here stories of the happiness and joy that some mentally and physically handicapped children bring. It is almost like bragging rights.

You don't hear so much of the heartache and isolation. The family breakdowns. The physical exhaustion and the heart breaking stress about what is going to happen to your child when you are unable to cope or worst still are no longer here to care for them.

Re: To have or not to have

*crikey*mate* — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:13:00 GMT

according to the OP, this child just looks a little bit different than what people consider normal.

Re: To have or not to have

1966kelso — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:15:08 GMT

@spotweldersfriend wrote:
Sounds very cubist to me

oooo you're going straight to hell for that one!

(and I'll be right behind you )

Re: To have or not to have

cherry*135 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:17:52 GMT

Not just a looks issue, a baby with this condition has practically nil chance of survival after birth.

Re: To have or not to have

cherry*135 — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:28:38 GMT

Parents fight to save unborn baby with two brains

10 Feb 2014

Parents of an unborn child with two faces and two brains are defying doctors' advice to terminate the pregnancy.

Renee Young and Simon Howie, of Tregear in Sydney's west, said they were shocked when a routine ultrasound revealed the twins they were expecting were in fact only one child, but with a very big difference.

Three-dimensional scans show the child has two legs, two arms and one body and all its vital organs, including a strong beating heart.

But above the neck, the child has two faces on one skull, an exact duplication of eyes, nose and mouth, and two brains connected with one brain stem.

"Shocked, confused, a little bit of everything … I wasn't sure how to take in what he was explaining to me," Mr Howie told A Current Affair.

The rare duplication, known as craniofacial hyperhidrosis or diprosopus, is so rare that only 35 cases have ever been recorded.

Not one is alive today.

Ms Young, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, was 15 weeks and two days into her pregnancy when doctors broke the news and too far along to abort the child – not that the couple considered it an option.

She must give birth to the child whether it is terminated or not and said she would rather give their daughter - or "daughters", as they consider there to be two children - the best chance of survival.

"It'd be the same as being a child with autism or down syndrome … I don't believe in terminating the baby if it's healthy and growing fine, and everything is going to plan," Mr Howie said.

"Renee was the same."

But Mr Howie said doctors disagreed, urging the parents of seven to terminate their unborn child "because it would be looked upon as a freak".

"We've got a really big family, we don't really involve ourselves in the community except for schools where the children are. We have a good family base … it gives us a lot of support," Mr Howie said.

Maternal foetal specialist Greg Kesby has seen several conjoined twins in his career but none quite like this.

"It's probably the rarest of all the conjoined twins, you'd be thinking numbers of one in a million to one in two million for this kind of anomaly," he said.

Dr Kesby said there was a good chance the couple's child would not survive to a live birth but if she did, treatment could prove costly.

But the soon-to-be family of 10, which lives in a four-bedroom social housing block and rely on a disability and carer's pensions as income, said they would cross that bridge as it comes.

The last known case of diprosopus was the birth of baby girl Lali in 2008 in a remote Indian village.

She struggled to feed properly due to her condition and two months to the day she was born, she died.

"If I only get two days with the baby, I only get two days with the baby. At least I have some time with it," Ms Young, now 19 weeks pregnant, said.

"That's just the time we actually get to spend with the baby and its brothers and sisters get to meet their little brother or sister."

Source: A Current Affair

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/02/10/18/57/parents-fight-to-save-unborn-baby-with-two-brains