Alberta Report: The doctors are often wrong

When Christine Friesen of Calgary looks at her energetic 10-month-old son Joseph, she often thinks, ‘You almost weren’t here.’ Mrs. Friesen and her husband, Mark, scheduled an abortion after being told their unborn child carried the mutated X chromosome associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an incurable disease characterized by degenerating muscle tissue. ‘I couldn’t allow my son to slowly suffer from the disease that killed my brother,’ Mrs. Friesen says. However, when the clinic was unable to abort her pregnancy on the scheduled day, the Friesens changed their mind.
That minor inconvenience over a year ago has turned into a major blessing for the Friesens. To the surprise of experts across the country, Joseph was born completely healthy. Even her doctor, Mrs. Friesen says, wept in relief when the test results came back negative. Although she does not condemn women for choosing abortion in similar ‘rotten’ circumstances, Mrs. Friesen warns that ‘anything can happen,’ especially since doctors are ‘only human.’ ‘It’s sobering to think how close we came to not having Joseph,’ Mrs. Friesen remarks. ‘There isn’t a day that goes by in which we’re not thankful for him.’
Medicine often guesses wrong. Over a year ago the unborn daughter of Lana and Arrigo Monai of Edmonton was diagnosed in utero with a rare genetic disorder and given a zero- to 5% chance of surviving. Despite lacking part of her fifth chromosome, Abigail defied the odds and entered the world breathing on her own. Although doctors feared she would suffer from heart disease, spina bifida, digestive disorders and mental deficiencies, Abigail appears to be a normal, healthy six-month-old today. ‘I feel sad for parents who choose abortion,’ Mrs. Monai says.

Keep reading: Alberta Report: The doctors are often wrong: “The doctors are often wrong
– – by Carmen Wittmeier