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Woman in vegetative state gives birth

139 replies

NotMyCircusMonkeys · 04/01/2019 19:49

Police in Phoenix are investigating after a woman who has been in a vegetative state for 10 YEARS gave birth.

I have no words... I feel so sorry for that poor woman, her family and the baby who will grow up effectively an orphan. How did no-one notice she was pregnant?! How does this happen in a supposedly civilised country??

www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/us/woman-pregnant-vegatative-state-birth.html

OP posts:
Shockers · 10/01/2019 09:43

This case is absolutely horrendous. I hope the sentence given to the perpetrator is as harsh as is possible. I would also expect a full investigation as to whether there is a culture of rape and abuse in this, and similar settings. Unfortunately the kind of person who lacks empathy enough to commit this kind of atrocity are often drawn to these kind of roles.

But- there are also kind and compassionate carers, teachers, doctors, nurses etc. So to hold all men responsible for the actions of those kind of men, isn’t right. Nor would it be right to hold all of the above mentioned responsible for the actions of a percentage of their peers.

purpleme12 · 10/01/2019 09:52

This is one of the most shocking things I've ever read!

babysharkah · 10/01/2019 09:54

Fucking he'll. I'm speechless and utterly utterly disgusted.

TheViceOfReason · 10/01/2019 10:30

Disgusting that the staff at the facility have been at the very least complicit in covering up a pregnancy (though one wonders why if they were knowingly covering it up - after all SOMEONE must have noticed changes in her body) they didn't intervene to terminate it also. Which would also be wrong obviously... but surely less of a risk to the woman and to being discovered than letting the pregnancy conclude?

The NAMALT thing... there are 2 sides to this.

Yes, it takes away from the focus by bringing up the NAMALT speech, and indeed it is correct that the vast majority of these crimes are committed by men against women. It is wrong to detract from the severity of the crimes by saying NAMALT. The good men - particularly those in power who CAN make changes should be stepping up and doing their best to improve things.

But.

Generalisations are wrong and not helpful. It is wrong to blame the majority of good men for the acts of the bad ones. Of course if i say to my husband "men are fucking disgusting rapists and murderers" he is going to want to defend himself! It doesn't make him a bad person. Nor does it detract from the fact he agrees that SOME men are cunts.

The majority of Midwives are female. Thread after thread on mumsnet shows women having bad experiences with female midwives (females being the vast majority of midwifes). We don't go around saying "all women are fucking disgusting abusive cunts who don't listen to anything labouring women say". We acknowledge that not all midwives are like that.... but there are a percentage of bad ones who are and they need to be dealt with. We don't tarnish the entire profession - and all women in general - full stop.

Instead of saying "all men are cunts" try "some men are utter cunts, we need you good men to help stop them".

Instead of raging about a woman pointing out the NAMALT is actually hindering helping woman in danger, try thinking about it from another perspective.

RightOnTheEdge · 10/01/2019 10:48

The story I read said that the woman is part of a Native American community.
A statement from her family said that they will bring up the baby and it will be brought up and very loved and protected by the family and community which is a bit of good news.

The Sky News story on Facebook doesn't even mention rape at all I think.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 10/01/2019 11:04

The story I read said that the woman is part of a Native American community.
A statement from her family said that they will bring up the baby and it will be brought up and very loved and protected by the family and community

I wish them good luck with that. They may find they have a battle on their hands to do that. Sad

U2HasTheEdge · 10/01/2019 11:16

Fucking hell. Some people are disgusting. That poor woman. The place should be shut down. How on earth did no one notice? Shocking.

I am glad the baby will be looked after by family.

RightOnTheEdge · 10/01/2019 11:25

Oh no, I hope not ILoveMaxi

Birdie6 · 10/01/2019 11:27

Hard to imagine that nobody noticed until she was in labour. People in a vegetative state are not normally overweight at all - they are fed via a stomach tube and they receive just the exact amount of liquid diet which their body needs. I've cared for people in this state and they are normally very slim because of the feeding regime. I can only assume that the carers who washed and changed her clothing, might have been people with a small amount of training in nursing - and maybe they just didn't take much notice of a lady with a swollen tummy. Poor lady.

SoupDragon · 10/01/2019 11:38

Why does the article say ‘apparently’ raped?

I actually think this is fine. It's not casting doubt on it in the way "allegedly" would.

Bluntness100 · 10/01/2019 11:42

I would imagine that staff are being tested because the facility wishes to know if what was one of theirs or not. It could well have been a patient or a family member/friend.

I think what horrifies me most is the police comment that they have no idea how often this woman was raped. The thing about them not knowing is they would have had to report if they did, it would be a crime for them not to, so either some staff knew and said nothing, or they didn't know and she was not receiving the care she should have been.

I would imagine though she didn't gain much weight and the pregnancy was not very visible. As she will have been fed through a tube, and possibly not even full term, it's highly possible this baby was very underweight and small.

Bluntness100 · 10/01/2019 11:48

And as for her periods stopping, she may not have been having periods but still ovulating.

Sarahjconnor · 23/01/2019 21:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

iklboo · 23/01/2019 21:58

And some doctors / health professionals have quit too.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 23/01/2019 22:01

Thanks for the update sarah. Glad they’ve caught him. Unsurprising that it was a staff member. I would also suspect (perhaps wrongly but I’m cynical about this place) that there may have been a few other sighs of relief when he was arrested.

Btw, have I understood it correctly that this woman has been in a vegetative state since she was 3 years old? Shock

Yulebealrite · 23/01/2019 23:29

Yes for 26 years. She is capable of responding to her family, likes being read to and responds to music. She can move head and arms etc.

I thought a vegetative state was much less responsive than that Shock

MooseBeTimeForSnow · 23/01/2019 23:48

I read he refused to voluntarily give a DNA sample and they had to get an order from a Judge to compel him to do so.

CallMeRachel · 24/01/2019 21:59

A male nurse, who is married with a wife and 4 kids has been found to be the DNA match for the baby.

He has failed to cooperate with police and is refusing to speak.

There is no "direct evidence" a nurse raped a woman in a vegetative state despite his DNA being matched to the baby she later gave birth to, his lawyer said. Wow, are lawyers really this thick and desperate for money their intelligence and morals go out the window?

The poor woman has been in a vegetative state since she was just 3 years old ffs. How the hell else do they think she got pregnant?

Again, in the article I read today the rape word has not been used.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 24/01/2019 22:06

Right so they agree the DNA matches that of the baby she gave birth to from her body less than a month ago, they agree that means he is the father of that baby, they surely don’t dispute then that these facts mean his sperm met her egg and combined to fertilise her egg. Are they suggesting that someone stole his semen and artificially inseminated this woman? As some kind of a experiment?

SoupDragon · 25/01/2019 07:36

As it's in the US there might be different rules about how they phrase things prior to a trial I guess.

SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed · 25/01/2019 09:48

There is no "direct evidence" a nurse raped a woman in a vegetative state despite his DNA being matched to the baby she later gave birth to, his lawyer said. Wow, are lawyers really this thick and desperate for money their intelligence and morals go out the window?

They probably realise the case is cut and dried so are clutching at whatever defence they can think of, no matter how flimsy it is. At least when he is convicted he won't be able to appeal on the grounds that his defence team didn't try everything.

staydazzling · 25/01/2019 13:31

the rapist has been found and imprisoned I think, there's also opinions the lazy eye is fake as its not like that in another photo. There was an interesting post on twitter about the fact we know the rapist is non white and how social media has since gone reeaally quiet, Hmm the twitter storm is stagnant ...ive not even seen it on.tv

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 25/01/2019 14:36

"no direct evidence" "a Christian family man"

Oh well then lets all go home, nothing to see here. Hmm Angry

Fuck off. How bloody insulting to the poor woman and her family to hear utter shite like that. Seeing as his lawyer going to stoop that low then I wouldn't be surprised the old 'he tripped and fell in her' line won't be trotted out.

Utterly furious on her behalf. They're going to drag this out for all it's worth in the court arent they? As if she hasn't been through enough Angry

ILoveMaxiBondi · 25/01/2019 14:53

You never hear that a Christian woman has been raped do you? Apparently religion is only relevant to show the otherwise good character of the rapist Hmm

Lollypop27 · 25/01/2019 15:10

How can the lawyer say there is no direct evidence when his dna matches??

The woman was 112 pounds which is 8 stone. How do you not know an 8 stone woman is pregnant. There has been some serious neglect.

Does a vegetative state mean something different here than in the US? She’s been like it since she was 3?

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