Pretty little product of conception.
Posted on 12/08/2005 10:27:56 PM PST by beaversmom
A mother is hoping to win £250,000 in compensation after her twin daughter survived an abortion four years ago.
Stacy Dow, from Perth, was 16 when she found out she was pregnant with twins and decided to have an abortion.
However, when she returned to her doctor after 33 weeks she was told one of the babies had survived.
Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust said there had been nothing to suggest a child had survived and plans to challenge the claim in court next year.
The surviving baby, Jayde, is now four. Her mother is claiming the damages for the "financial burden" of her upbringing.
In a landmark legal case, lawyers will argue that as a result of the failed termination, she suffered loss, injury and damage... and suffers "an impediment in her ability to obtain employment in consequence of her care for the child."
On Wednesday, a date was fixed for the case to be heard at Perth Sheriff Court next March.
The abortion was carried out at Perth Royal Infirmary in January 2001 and Miss Dow was told that no live material was visible in her uterus.
She was then given a contraceptive injection and advised that it could induce side effects of weight gain and an erratic menstrual cycle.
Miss Dow claims she thought the injection was to blame for her subsequent increase in weight and the cessation of her periods.
But she returned to her doctor and was advised that one of the foetuses had survived and was seven weeks from full term.
'Distress and anxiety'
On 30 August, 2001, an elective caesarean section was carried out at Perth Royal Infirmary and Jayde was born healthy, weighing 6lb 2oz.
Ms Dow's action states: "As a result of the failed termination the pursuer suffered loss, injury and damage. She suffered distress and anxiety upon the discovery of her continuing pregnancy.
"She required to undergo an elective C-section. She suffered pain and discomfort in consequence of surgery.
"She has the financial burden of care, upbringing and aliment of Jayde. She suffers an impediment in her ability to obtain employment in consequence of her care for the child."
Jayde now lives with her mother and grandparents Douglas, 40, and Barbara, 41.
Miss Dow said she thought long and hard before deciding to pursue the legal claim because of the potential impact it would have on her daughter.
"I have got a child now that I wasn't planning to have and I believe the hospital should take some responsibility for that," she said.
"They should have known, or at least warned me, that I might still be pregnant when I left. It has totally changed my life and my parents' lives.
"I still don't know if, or what, I am going to tell Jayde when the time comes. Maybe when she is nine or 10 I will sit her down and explain it to her."
She added: "The hospital knew it was twins when I went for the termination so they should have checked even more carefully before sending me home."
According to court papers, Miss Dow - who had been on the pill until it made her ill - was expecting non-identical twins.
Her action states: "This was caused by the fault and negligence of the medical staff. They ought to have known that further inquiry following surgery was necessary to establish the success of the termination of both foetuses.
"They had a duty to take reasonable care to establish that the termination had been successful. They ought to have known the contraceptive jag could have masked the symptoms of continuing pregnancy.
"In all these duties, the defender's employees failed."
Similar case
The health trust is defending the action, claiming that after the abortion the doctor "checked the cavity of the uterus and could feel no further products of conception.
"As far as could be clinically determined the pregnancy had been terminated," it said. "There were no features to suggest a second gestation sac was left.
"There is a recognised incidence of failed suction termination, particularly at early gestation. It's probable the procedure on 19 January 2001 reduced the twins pregnancy to a singleton pregnancy."
The trust has also stated in response that Jayde was born healthy, and that the sum being sued for was "excessive".
In 2001, Kim Nicholls, from Staffordshire, who was advised to abort her twins on medical grounds, won a five-figure-sum when one of the babies survived.
Pretty little product of conception.
I am sure this is really good for the self image of the child. Mommy tried to kill you and now raising you is too much of a burden.
Must be such a conflict of emotions for the mom--"I really didn't want you, but now that you are here, maybe I can make some money off of you." Maybe she can tell her that when she's old enough or "You know you little burden, life threw me a lemon and I made lemonade." Whatever she tells her, I'm sure it will be real inspirational to the product of conception.
She has a child now, that she hadn't planned on having and she decided that the hospital should be liable for that? How about she keeps her legs closed instead of blaming others for her stupidity!
The hospital should be able to offset against its damages all the happiness that having a baby brings. It should be able to put on the stand childless women who are barren after years of trying, and couples who adopted, to value the child's positive worth. If the mother refuses to accept the theory of an offset, the child should be taken from her in Solomonic fashion and awarded to one of the childless witnesses.
Unreal...
what a slippery slope it is.
The surviving baby, Jayde, is now four. Her mother is claiming the damages for the "financial burden" of her upbringing.
In a landmark legal case, lawyers will argue that as a result of the failed termination, she suffered loss, injury and damage... and suffers "an impediment in her ability to obtain employment in consequence of her care for the child
She could have spared herself her selfish misery by allowing her child to be adopted by loving people who ahve more heart than she and the grandparents now seem to have for this little girl.
let's see Deary, how can I explain this in terms you understand at your tender age. I had your twin sister killed. I intended to kill you too, but for some reason the "procedure" didn't take. Now I am trying to recover the funds I've expended trying to bear and raise you since I didn't want you in the first place. But here you are, and now they owe me. Got it? Night night sweetie, sleep tight.
Some people have no shame.
What a pig.
Oh jeez lady! What do you think sex is for? The sex act is about making babies. Every time a person has sex they have to realise that this is a likely outcome- even with contraception.
what a gorgous child. Hard to believe she tried to kill her.
What a selfish, self-serving, self-absorbed little 'mommy.'
It's all about "her" isn't it?
D@mn, just d@mn.
Martin Amis was right: our world only makes sense if time is really moving backwards. "They had this horrendous practice called abortion in 2005 but then in 1973 they ended it."
I know a way to take care of her "burden". There are probably many people who would love to adopt that little girl.
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