Mother Chooses Life
by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin on 01/26/2008 at 1:34 PM
There are many stories of mothers choosing life for their babies; Lorraine Allard is just one of them. According to FoxNews, the 33-year-old Allard learned that she had advanced liver cancer when she was four months pregnant with her fourth child.
Allard, of St. Olaves in the U.K., had a choice: Delay treatment to save her baby, or terminate the pregnancy to save herself.
She chose the former, waiting until the fetus was viable before scheduling a Caesarean section.
"If I am going to die, my baby is going to live," Allard told her husband, Martyn, according to the [Daily] Mail.
Two months after giving birth to her son, Liam, Allard died.
Perhaps what is heartening about this story isn't only that Allard chose life for her baby, but that this article was at the top of the "most read" list yesterday. In our basic nature, we humans cherish life. And we acknowledge the beauty of a mother's sacrifice for her child. In the words of Allard's husband:
"Lorraine was positive all the way through," Martyn Allard told the paper. "She had strength for both of us. I can't begin to describe how brave she was. Towards the end we knew things weren't going well, but she was overjoyed that she had given life to Liam."
1. Amir Larijani said the following at 1:43 PM on Jan 26:
And what's tough about this one: it involves the very few instances (statistically it's very small) in which abortion has always been legal in this country: danger to the woman's life.
In spite of medical advancements, there are a small percentage of cases--and this type of cancer is one of them--in which the scenario applies.
I'll admit...if I were the hubby, I'd be very conflicted on that one. Especially if I already had three children with her. No easy solution there.
If she lives, the baby dies and we have to live with that; if the baby lives, she dies and the rest of us have to cope, perhaps second-guessing ourselves.
2. James said the following at 7:47 AM on Jan 27:
While I'm not completely against this one VERY small reason for abortion, ANY abortion I hear about breaks my heart.
So, this is a wonderful though sad story. However, this 4th child won't grow up (I hope) hearing how "he killed his mother." But rather how his mother loved him so much that she laid down her life so that he might live. What a blessed picture of Christ her memory will be to that child.
Though I am with Amir on this one. If I were the husband, I would be very conflicted about this. I pray that if I'm ever in this situation that I'll be loving enough to let her go. I can't imagine the pain this lady's husband must have felt and still feels even if he knows and feels that what they choose was right. Pray for this man. And may the Lord bless him for his obedience in love.
3. Noelle said the following at 7:32 AM on Jan 28:
I posted this story on my facebook to see what thoughts my peergroup had on the subject. General confusion and dismay ensued.
If in that situation, I know that I would've made the same decision that this mother did. In the end, we're all accountable to God for the decisions made on this earth. Before God and everyone else on this earth, I don't know how you could do anything but choose life.
4. Nick said the following at 10:03 AM on Jan 28:
wow. That's awesome.
What a selfless mom. A true example of Christ's sacrificial love for us (not that it is enough to give her son eternal life, but it's from the same mold as God's love for us).
Any idea if she was a believer?
5. Carrie (the original) said the following at 11:44 AM on Jan 28:
You know, it seems that men would be conflicted more than women. For most women, this is a no-brainer. And abortion, in and of itself, was not going to save the mother's life. This is why I have such a problem with the "unless a woman's life is in danger" line of reasoning. The pregnancy did not cause the cancer, there was unfortunate timing. Ideally, this woman would have been treated in a timely manner. However, there was another life to consider.
This is very much a picture of Christ's sacrifice for us.
For as much as (some) men like to sacrifice for the one they love, I'm kind of surprised that vast majority of them have such difficulty with a decision like this.
To me, it's a no-brainer.
6. skp said the following at 2:48 PM on Jan 28:
I worked in a intensive care unit which had a number of women who were critically ill after delivering their babies. They all had severe congenital heart disease and were advised by their physicians never to get pregnant. They were told that if they did, they had a 90% chance of dying They did it anyway. I still think about that sometimes. I wonder what I would do.
7. Al said the following at 11:26 PM on Jan 28:
Carrie, men have difficulty with this not because they have difficulty sacrificing for one they love, but because they are faced with the prospect of *losing* one they love-- their *wife* no less-- for another they love, albiet a child whose face they haven't even seen.
I think many of those same men would be more than glad to trade their own lives for that of his child if they only had a choice in the matter. The decision is complicated because she is leaving behind a husband and three other children-- but then again, she didn't choose to leave them. Rather, she traded her odds for her son's life, while remaining hopeful that she would still recover through chemotherapy. I can see the beauty in this as much as I can see the pain and loss because of this decision. I'm pretty torn about this and wouldn't begin to know how to feel if I was in her husband's place.
I have to admit, as a guy, I'm often befuddled, and at times even disturbed, by the awesome bond a mother has with her child. I get that between a man and a woman he loves. Maybe someday, God willing, I'll get the bond between a father and his son or daughter. But when those two come into conflict, for a man at least, it's anything but a no-brainer.