I have just finished reading two very touching stories on the refusal of parents to terminate a pregnancy.

One turns out to have a happy ending.

In “Fighting for Claire,” we read about two parents, already blessed with two children, whose third pregnancy - in which the baby was diagnosed with encephalocele (a portion of the brain being outside the skull - found them fighting the Tide of Termination which blows so fiercely from both the “well-meaning, compassionate” types and from the lawsuit-bitten within the medical community:

…they began to recognize that the more specialized and acclaimed the doctors were, the greater was the pressure to “terminate”…The diagnosis was confirmed, and a fear they heard over and over again was that, because the skull was open, “the brain will be spilling out of the head.” Throughout the pregnancy, doctors couldn’t find the baby’s cerebellum, the section of the brain which controls fine motor skills. Up to nine doctors and technicians couldn’t find the cerebellum.
[...]

As the medical saga proceeded, Mimi found herself going to Mass everyday, receiving the Eucharist and begging the Lord to touch her child and heal her with a miracle. While Mimi prayed with fervor and great faith, Tito (her husband) prepared for whatever the Lord would allow.
[…]
Mimi went into early labor and was rushed to her local hospital where, amidst the fear and stress of the unknowns contained in high-risk pregnancies she delivered by C-section a healthy baby girl, to everyone’s amazement. Every newborn is given and APGAR test, which measures the physical health, reflexes, etc., of the baby on a scale of one through ten. Little Claire, the “hopeless” case, scored a 9.9!

There was, at the base of Claire’s head, a small sac that was surgically removed two months after her birth. Whether Claire’s story is a miracle worked by God in the womb of her mother or whether the multitude of specialists simply got confused by the sight of the sac and offered a severe misdiagnosis, we may never know. But Mimi and Tito know that they chose the good in the face of trial - loving and accepting their child regardless of any medical condition -and that will have eternal rewards.

The other story doesn’t end as happily, but it does show love.

Thanks to reader Elizabeth J., I am now linking to part I and part 2 of another story, about a remarkable family who worked hard to welcome the son, the brother, the grandson, the nephew they knew could only live a very short time.

His brain wasn’t forming properly. His face had deformities: a double cleft lip and problems with his eyes. His heart’s veins and arteries were on the wrong sides. An omphalocele — a sack containing half his organs — was growing outside his body.
[…]
The couple read Scripture, looking for words that would ease their heartbreak, words that would help them understand.
She decided that the best gift she could give to her unborn son was to love him until his death, even if the only fullness of his life would be in the soft cushion of her womb.

As long as Zeke lived, they would love him as best they could. Maybe he would go all the way to term. Maybe they could hold him before he died.

Little Zeke lived for just about a half-hour - a beautiful 35 minutes - and reading about those precious minutes, viewing the pictures, explains more eloquently than the greatest theologian ever could, the power that comes from saying “yes” to God, and of affirming life. It illustrates how mysteriously human and divine is love.

She decided that the best gift she could give to her unborn son was to love him until his death, even if the only fullness of his life would be in the soft cushion of her womb.

As long as Zeke lived, they would love him as best they could. Maybe he would go all the way to term. Maybe they could hold him before he died.

Little Zeke lived for just about a half-hour - a beautiful 35 minutes - and reading about those precious minutes, viewing the pictures, explains more eloquently than the greatest theologian ever could, the power that comes from saying “yes” to God, and of affirming life. It illustrates how mysteriously human and divine is love.

She decided that the best gift she could give to her unborn son was to love him until his death, even if the only fullness of his life would be in the soft cushion of her womb.

As long as Zeke lived, they would love him as best they could. Maybe he would go all the way to term. Maybe they could hold him before he died.

Little Zeke lived for just about a half-hour - a beautiful 35 minutes - and reading about those precious minutes, viewing the pictures, explains more eloquently than the greatest theologian ever could, the power that comes from saying “yes” to God, and of affirming life. It illustrates how mysteriously human and divine is love.

Go visit the Anchoress and read these posts, but take a tissue with you.