Mother chooses life for her severely disabled son, has no regrets over sharing his short life

By Rebecca Oas, Ph.D. | January 14, 2013

The UK’s Daily Mail reports the story of a mother who decided to give birth to her baby despite the diagnosis of severe disabilities resulting from complications in the development of his brain.  Doctors informed Katyia Rowe that her son would never walk or talk and was unlikely to survive beyond five years, but when she saw the 3D scans of him moving and smiling, she knew she could not follow the doctors’ recommendation to have an abortion.

 “Despite all the awful things I was being told, while he was inside me his quality of life looked to be wonderful and no different to any other baby’s, he was a joy to watch.  I was told he would never walk or talk yet the scans showed him constantly wriggling and moving.  As I watched I knew that while I was carrying him he still had a quality of life and it was my duty as a mother to protect that no matter how long he had left, he deserved to live.”

Because her son was unable to swallow, Rowe had to have amniotic fluid drained during the last nine weeks of pregnancy.

 She said: “It was agony and I knew some people questioned if it was worth putting myself through all this for a severely disabled baby that may not live for long.  But I never ever thought like that. As a mother you will do anything for your child and for me I became a mother as soon as I fell pregnant, that job had started already.”

Little Lucian lived only nine hours after his birth, but his parents did not regret the time they had with him, however brief.

The article shows Rowe holding a framed 3D scan of Lucian’s face in the womb.  She said,

“it was ironic because I had never considered myself particularly maternal but now I wanted nothing more than to care for my son and give him the best quality of life possible. I was more than happy to dedicate my life fully to his care.  I researched all his disabilities to prepare myself fully for his needs. I never had a moment of doubt. I only had to look at the scan pictures of him enjoying life in the womb to know I was doing the right thing by giving him a chance.”

This story comes roughly a month after a politician in the UK had his campaign suspended after he called for the compulsory abortion of disabled babies, such as those with Down’s syndrome or spina bifida.

As of 1990, abortion is legal in the UK up to 24 weeks, with a few specific exceptions, one of which is “extreme fetal abnormality”.  Pro-life groups in the UK have recently called for a ban on abortion on the grounds of disability, referring to the practice as a form of eugenics.

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