Wow, this story might be a little hard to read, especially for those of you who have been struggling with infertility for years. Times Online just published an article called IVF babies aborted as mothers lose in love, a look at women in Britain who, after becoming pregnant through IVF, decide to have an abortion for "social reasons".
"Figures obtained under freedom of information rules show that an average of 80 abortions are carried out each year after IVF, which can cost about £5,000. Up to half of these involve women aged 18-34."The article goes on the profile a few of these women and the reasons for aborting the pregnancy:
Victoria, a secretary from London, decided to abort her much-wanted IVF baby when it became clear her marriage was breaking up. “I couldn’t cope with bringing up a child on my own and I didn’t want any link that would force me to stay in touch with my husband,” she said.
Jessica Rogers, a nursing supervisor at the Marie Stopes clinic in Bristol, said she recently dealt with a woman expecting twins through IVF who had discovered her husband was having an affair. Rogers said: “She was having his babies and she just didn’t want to continue with it on her own. I don’t think he even found out she had been pregnant.”
Now, normally, I'm an unflinching supporter of women's right to abortion, but this might be too much even for me. Though to be truthful, my main objection is with couples recklessly undergoing IVF when they aren't actually ready for a baby. These stories are awful all around...as horrifying as these abortions are, I can't imagine a child being well cared for in a household where both parents are so unstable and mercurial...
In Great Britain, up to three rounds of IVF are funded by the National Health Service (NHS), in other words, publicly funded. Are couples more likely to undergo IVF irresponsibly when the money doesn't have to come out of their own pockets? What kept these women from bearing the children they fought so hard to conceive and giving them up for adoption? What can fertility clinics do to ensure that this doesn't happen?
I don't have the answers, but I do know one thing: Something is seriously wrong in this picture.
Read the full article here: http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article7144878.ece
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