Doctors pressure family to abort baby because of dwarfism, baby is born healthy

Frank Pedreira, MD, recalls the following:

“Denise, a 32-year-old woman with three children (Laura, Steven, and Stephanie) ranging in age from 2 – 7 years became pregnant for the fourth time. Her previous pregnancies were completely uneventful, and her three children were healthy, active, and bright. She and her husband were healthy and well.

Her pregnancy was proceeding normally until the sixth month when a “routine sonogram” was interpreted by her doctor as “compatible with dwarfism.” She was sent to a Metropolitan University Medical Center where she was examined and a repeat sonogram was ordered. The sonogram reconfirmed the findings of limb shortening suggestive of dwarfism. Additionally, a cardiac defect was diagnosed. Denise was told that abortion was an option she should consider.

She and her husband, Mark, both professed Christians, decided this was not an option and elected to have the baby… A baby boy was born at term after a spontaneous labor and remarkably easy delivery. The child was completely normal, without evidence of dwarfism or heart abnormality. His birth weight was 8 pounds, length 21 inches, and Apgar score 9/10. The parents named him John.

Presently, at age one year, John is growing, gaining and developing very well, without any evidence of defect or disease.”

Frank Pedreira, MD A Doctor’s Prescription for Life (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Sterling House, 1999) 69 – 70

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Doctor describes case where fetal testing was wrong – baby was born healthy

Frank Pedreira, MD tells the following story:

“… A 27-year-old woman named Laura, with a history of excellent health, who became pregnant for the first time. Her husband Bill was 29 years old and also in good health. Laura’s first trimester was unremarkable except for mild, early-morning nausea and her first three prenatal visits were uneventful.

At the fourth month of gestation, a sample of amniotic fluid was tested for a fetoprotein (AFP), which was reported as “high.” Elevated AFP levels may be indicative of central nervous system defects. A repeat amniocentesis yielded the same results. The sonogram was “suggestive of a brain defect.” The option of abortion was raised, but Laura and Bill rejected it on the basis of personal religious conviction. A baby girl was born on time – healthy, robust, and perfectly normal. Her parents named her Mary Elizabeth.”

Frank Pedreira, MD A Doctor’s Prescription for Life (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Sterling House, 1999) 70

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