Tuberous sclerosis complex. Most people have never heard of this rare medical condition. Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), also known as tuberous sclerosis, is a rare genetic disease that causes non-cancerous (benign) tumors to grow in the brain and several areas of the body, including the spinal cord, nerves, eyes, lung, heart, kidneys, and skin. The […]
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Tuberous sclerosis complex. Most people have never heard of this rare medical condition.
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), also known as tuberous sclerosis, is a rare genetic disease that causes non-cancerous (benign) tumors to grow in the brain and several areas of the body, including the spinal cord, nerves, eyes, lung, heart, kidneys, and skin.
The excess cells form noncancerous tumors, which can form anywhere in your body. The severity of this condition often depends on tumor locations. Mild or moderate cases are often manageable with medication or other treatments.
After Elizabeth Brown’s son, Beckett, was diagnosed with the condition, and knowing the medical challenges he faces, when Elizabth and her husband found out they were having another baby, their doctor did what so many doctors have when a baby has a potential disability or medical condition: suggested abortion. Surely they didn’t want another baby with the same medical diagnosis, so killing the baby must be the right answer?
Wrong.
“The geneticist sat me down; my stepmother-in-law was with me. The geneticist said, ‘So I just wanted to know what options you were thinking if this baby has TSC. A lot of the other couples, when they find out their child may have a genetic condition like Down syndrome or TSC or some other condition they can’t medically help, sometimes they consider terminating the pregnancy.’ I said, ‘Absolutely not. I have a baby with TSC at home and he’s absolutely perfect. I can’t believe you would ask me that,’” said Elizabeth.
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The geneticist said it was an internal policy to ask, meaning the medical establishment or hospital system requires that doctors talk to parents about aborting their baby after they receive a diagnosis or even if there is the possibility of a diagnosis.
Elizabeth told the doctor never to ask that question again. When she returned to the MFM for an ultrasound at 20 weeks, the doctor asked if she had received her blood test results yet, and when Elizabeth said that she hadn’t, the doctor began to talk about how “complex” TSC is and asked if she had “thought about any options.”
“I said, ‘Are you talking about me killing my baby?’ And he said, ‘Yes, terminating the pregnancy.’ I said, ‘You mean killing my baby. My husband and my son are perfect and have TSC.’ I was so shocked and saddened.”
This story is another reminder that we have to train doctors and medical professionals to value life.
LifeNews Note: Photo couresty of Elizabeth Brown via LiveAction.
The post Couple Refuses Doctor’s Suggestion to Have Abortion Just Because Their Son Had a Rare Diagnosis appeared first on LifeNews.com.
