2 to 1 Reduction

Yesterday, I posted a link to an article from National Right to Life on the new phenomenon of '2 to 1 Reduction Abortions.'  It seems some expectant mothers feel they are not up to the task of raising multiples and have selective abortions to 'reduce' the number of children being carried from 5 to 2, or 2 to 1.  This orignally began as fertility treatments were in their infancy (pun intended) and a women would concieve of 5 or more children at the same time.

What struck me hardest about the article was the comments by a mother who underwent the 'procedure:'

Finally, there is an almost throwaway paragraph that is worth pondering, about a woman who aborted (“selectively reduced”) two of the three babies she was carrying.


Today, her daughter is 2½ years old. Shelby intends to tell her about the reduction someday, to teach her that women have choices, even if they’re sometimes difficult. “I am the mother of a very demanding toddler,” she says. “I can’t imagine this times two, and not ever knowing if I’d have another person here to help me. This is what I can handle. I’m good with this. But that’s all.”


This mother considers it a badge of honor to wear proudly—telling her daughter she’s the sole survivor. This came long after Padawer gingerly touched the topic:


Even if parents work hard to conceal it, the child may discover the full story of his or her origins, and we don’t know what feelings of guilt or vulnerability or loss this discovery might summon.


A riveting piece, which I hope you will read tonight.

What struck me:

I am an identical twin, and conveniently enough, my parents are heading out to Iowa to visit him, his wife and two daughters this weekend.

But the story of our gestation and birth is, um, complicated.  The long and short:

My parents were 27 when my twin brother and I were born, with 4 other children already at home, and running a business together, which they still do.  They didn't know there were two of us in residence, and mom was having all kinds of difficulty with this pregnancy, including several months of bedrest.  (Which my next oldest sister has still never forgive us for!)

Mom started labor 8 weeks early, which is when they found out there were two of us (our hearts were beating in sync up until that point).  They slowed everything down, at least for overnight; meanwhile my older brother fell and and busted his head open, so mom is on the 2nd floor, brother is on the 5th floor, dad had slipped and fallen on ice in the parking lot, grandma and grandpa had the other three (all girls) at home, etc.



What would have happened?  Would my parents, if this was presented today, been offered/invited/pressured?  (That they would have said 'absolutely not' is of no doubt.)

After all, this is the 'loving' thing to do, right?  Because, after all, you can't handle 6 kids, all under 7, right?

(See how the lies of the abortion industry stack up so quickly?)



A priest friend of mine is also an identical twin, but his twin brother died at birth.  In talking one time, he mentioned that he was always looking to be 'complete,' that there was a hole in his heart where his brother had been.  What will this woman's daughter think when at last she knows?  Will she be able to forgive her own mother?