Mother Gives Birth To a Healthy Baby When Doctors Told Her to Get an Abortion

March 24, 2009 by tiffanyb
Filed under: News, Weird

Dawn Lewis was advised by doctors to abort her baby after they diagnosed him with having a chromosomal disorder at 12 weeks gestation.

Dawn Lewis tells the Daily Mail that her doctors advised her to get an abortion after a 12 week scan showed that her baby had a chromosomal disorder called Edwards Syndrome. This disorder causes severe kidney and heart problems and is fatal to babies, with usually only 50% of them living past 8 weeks old. But, Dawn Lewis did not listen to her doctors and she decided to get a second opinion, which is a good thing considering that today, her baby Deacon is a healthy 6 month little boy.

Lewis refused to have an abortion and was then referred to a maternity specialist to further run test. The tests came back that there was no sign of Edwards Syndrome in her baby. Dawn says, “‘I was absolutely delighted to find my baby was healthy but also horrified that I could have had him aborted. I was shocked that I had been advised to have a termination without first being offered a second scan and further tests. Thankfully we decided to pursue a second opinion because if we hadn’t then Deacon may not have been here today.”

The couple has now made an official complaint to Rochdale Infirmary in Greater Manchester regarding the stress that they were put under due to this misdiagnose and referral of abortion. They also want to make other parents-to-be aware that abortion may not always be the answer and to always get a second opinion from another doctor. Dawn says, “‘Many people would have taken the doctors’ advice and never have known they had aborted a healthy child. It is only because of our determination to have another child that our son is with us today. We are really shocked that the experts we trusted got this so badly wrong and we think it’s important to let other people know they don’t always get things right.”