Is 3 a Crowd or a Blessing? Selective Abortion for Triplets?

In North Carolina, Erin and Jennifer Conley, discovered they were expecting triplets with their 2nd pregnancy; their 1st child being a 3 yr. old son.  At 12 weeks, Jennifer's obstetrician referred her to a specialist. The triplets, by then, known simply as A, B and C, were all doing well. But the specialist had other ideas about the well being of little A, B and C. She, the specialist, began frightening the young couple with s t a s t i c s @ # % * ^ , in which she recited all the dangers of a triplet pregnancy.

The young couple stated that the specialist gave only negative prognosis, "The glass was always half-empty, never half full", Erin recalled. The young parents would ask, "Is there anything wrong with the children?"  To which the specialist would respond, "Not at this point." "But triplets are dangerous, and if they all survive to term, it takes parents more than 24 hours a day to care properly for three infants."

After listing all the things that could go wrong, the doctor gave her "specialist" suggestion: "Selective reduction." She told the young parents, that by aborting one of the infants, there would be more room in the womb for the other two, improving the chances for a healthy pregnancy and delivery. I guess that goes along with the old adage, "three's a crowd."

The young couple, who were not only Catholic, but deeply trusting in God, were devastated by such medical advise. They ultimately demanded that their doctor refer them to a different specialist; one who would be more respective of their feelings regarding their triplet pregnancy.  The young couple hadn't done in vitro, so this had simply been an act of nature, or more aptly, an act of God; and as such, the young couple believed that all three of their babies were gifts from Him.

Once again, I would like to inject a personal experience here. As a young woman, one of my childhood friends in the neighborhood I had grown up in, discovered she was expecting triplets with her very 1st pregnancy. The news made the local papers: "Local woman gives birth to Triplets!" My girlfriend, a tiny little thing, nevertheless delivered all 3 babies, with no complications to herself or the babies. It turned out that it was something which ran in her family, as twins usually do. Her grandmother and several others before her, had also given birth to triplets. I recall, that other than it being a news item in the local papers, no one thought of it as some sort of risk, which would require aborting one of the infants prior to birth.

A while back, I blogged on the "reduction of twins", becoming a norm for young women. The method of death for the chosen infant, was a lethal injection to the heart, then leaving the deceased infant inside the womb, to be born dead along side its' living sibling. Can you imagine? One child comes out to be laid in your arms ... the other to be discarded in a medical waste bin.  This young couple would have celebrated the birth of two of their triplets, while one little triplet's corpse would have been removed and discarded.

The Conley triplets are now 9 months old, as I write this blog. They, and their parents and 3 yr. old brother are all doing quite well. All three babies were girls, and each one has slowly developed to reveal unique personalities of their own, quite distinct from one another.  This means, that had one of them been destroyed, that little person and her distinct personality, would not have been repeated with her siblings. Her own distinct and unique personality and character would be gone. Every human being is a one of a kind ... whether they are one of twins, or triplets, or a single birth.  There are no repeats in nature. God has called each of us by name, long before He formed us in our mother's wombs. We are not pieces on an assembly line, to be picked over by quality control.

As far as the 24 hour care, which the doctor warned the triplets would require; is there any child that does not require round the clock care?  Four of my own children were born in rapid succession, so that I had 3 in diapers at one time.  I do not recall being overwhelmed by this, but rather able to find just how resourceful I was, and how adept I was at time management.  If we begin measuring the worth of human beings, based on the amount of care they require, where will that lead?  One day, when we get old, we ourselves may very well end up requiring round the clock care. Will this mean a decision to selectively reduce us from the family?