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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want DSD to have an abortion?

1002 replies

TessoftheDamned · 25/10/2010 00:16

Heavy going stuff but really doubting myself on this.

DSD is 14 and we thought Hmm was a straight-laced girl, very into her studies, hardly ever goes out, etc. Anyway, has fallen pregnant and just had the nerve to tell us (lives with us full-time, her mother is not in the picture). The guy is 'long gone' as she says, refuses to tell us his name or where she met him. To be honest I'm a bit worried there was some pressure and perhaps even date rape thing going on, but I haven't pushed it as she's very vulnerable at the moment (as one might expect).

She is adamant she is keeping her baby. Although I'm sure it will end up looking to us as parents and her as a sister, we don't want another baby and don't want to look after hers. She's not an adult but it is her body, I'm so torn. I feel like she's doing herself and everyone else a great disservice bringing this heartache, but of course a baby is normally a source of joy...

DH is flabbergasted and shocked, he's still trying to find out who the boy is (she told us 3 days ago). She clams up when we suggest anything other than keeping the baby and refuses to speak to us.

AIBU?

OP posts:
WetAugust · 26/10/2010 00:41

Rubbish

So an immature 14 year old calls the shots?

That's the child-centered society gone nuts.

NothereisnobodylurkingbehindU · 26/10/2010 00:51

She's pregnant wetaugust - if you want her not to be and she doesn't agree then the only way to achieve that is to force her to undergo a operation against her will. That would be assault in my view. Thats what would be insane - not supporting and loving her whatever she decides.

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 00:51

if she has capacity and judgement to consent to top or not.yes she can chose.one would hope her choices would be neutrally discussed.not wholly by family (too emotionally involved)

duchesse · 26/10/2010 00:52

hedge- that leaves the baby...nowhere, then? This is not a problem with an easy black and white solution. In fact it has no "good" solution. It's certainly not as facile as "her body, her choice" as some posters have painted it. Abortion is not easy but then bloody heck neither is having a baby in the OP's DSD's circumstances. Even with all the help in the world it is still going to change her life completely and irrevocably in ways that cannot at present be predicted. And as many extremely well-informed posters have pointed out, on balance less likely to be for the better educationally for the child concerned (and yes she is a child). I do wonder what people would say if it were say a 10 year old in this situation. Some 10 year olds menstruate- does that mean that they must be allowed full rein to decide to keep a baby or whether to have an abortion. Blatantly (aside from the rape issues which may apply in the case of this 14 yo as well), you would not expect a 10 yo to make that decision alone. This child sounds through the reactions posted by her SM to be on the immature side of 14. Certainly sounds to me as though she needs a lot of adult input in this decision.

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 00:54

capacity issue,really.at 14yo what is her capacity.this can be assessed

NothereisnobodylurkingbehindU · 26/10/2010 01:01

But Duchesse - where does adult input stop and undue pressure begin? I feel for the op of course but the person with most to lose here is the girl. If I had to pick between the op having her life disrupted and the girl having her life destroyed by a decision that is effectively made for her - well I'm with the girl because actually it does come down to her body, her choice.

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 01:03

unborn baby isnt legally in the equation has no legal rights.this is a capacity issue

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 26/10/2010 01:13

.

mathanxiety · 26/10/2010 01:18

Boils down to what MaryZ said earlier. Force an abortion or make the most of it.

And if a marriage, or someone's sanity or equilibrium, or the family's whole lifestyle, is hanging by so thin a thread, then the problems are much bigger than just a 14 year old expecting a baby.

And Biscuit to scottishmummy on that last post. Legal is a long way removed from real life here.

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 01:23

actual legal is everything here.at 14yo she can consent to top if assessed as having capacity.so isn't the parental decision at all

CheerfulYank · 26/10/2010 01:45

Oh, what a situation. Best of luck whatever happens. Is there anything you need? I'm 'cross the pond from you (I think) but would try to help in anyway I can. Private message me anytime you want to vent or anything.

mathanxiety · 26/10/2010 01:56

Are they really going to drag her against her wishes to have an abortion though, even if it's legal? Can you treat another human being like that, and carry on living under the same roof?

ZombiePlan · 26/10/2010 03:40

Don't think the OP has ever indicated that there would be any question of forcing an abortion on the DSD.

IAPJJLPJ · 26/10/2010 06:40

ZombiePlan - Totally agree with what you said about being completely straight with her. My parents did the same to me when I fell pregnant (although I was married, own home and planned!!). But they wanted it clear that they were not there to be used for childcare - and so it was never considered.

grapeandlemon · 26/10/2010 07:52

The girl is very young 14 from what op has said. She is essentially clueless, saying "keeping" it and running to her room has to stop now really. If she wants to keep the baby she must be told the harsh realities of what she is giving up and grow up, fast.
It is so sad because it is the beginning of the end really if we are honest. I knew three girls who fell pg at 14 at school and none of them went on to keep the children. It is too hard at that age even with mature girls.

What a mess. Has she seen a gp yet? Sorry if this has been answered already.

grapeandlemon · 26/10/2010 07:58

Also I stress that you need to get to the bottom of what happened with the father. I so disagree with the poster that said he is probably some kid just put of nappies himself so forget him. We hear so much about absent fathers not giving a toss, he may not have a clue he has a child on the way. She needs to at some point explain who he is and what led to this pg. He and his family could be very helpful here.

scaryteacher · 26/10/2010 08:01

'I honestly think that this s a non argument- the girl has said she doesn't want to get rid of her baby. That should be respected 100%. I agree that it's not up to teas to raise this child but it's not upto her to decide it's future either.'

So what Tess wants as an adult and as a mother of other children should not be respected? It is up to Tess to decide (or have input) on the future of this baby because it impacts on her and her other children and because she is being set up to deal with this whether she wants to or not. Her life is effectively being put on hold and she will end up resenting the baby, the dsd and her dh, and the implications of all of that aren't good.

As for the poster earlier who said they would rather the OPs life was trashed for a few years rather than the dsd's - what happened to the sisterhood?

ZZZenAgain · 26/10/2010 08:05

haven't red the thread

but how incredibly difficult Tess. I hope your DSD still has a bit of time to weigh things up. 14 is really very young to see the consequences of making a decision (either way really).

I can understand you feeling overwhelmed and not wanting to become responsible forthe baby. Whole thing is very hard.

TorturesInAHalfHell · 26/10/2010 08:12

OP, you have all my sympathies. How dare your husband tell you that, by agreeing to mother his child, you've agreed to mother her child? Does he think that the tasks of caring for a baby are below men? Does he think that his time and leisure are more important than yours?

I do feel desperately sorry for your stepdaughter, how horrific to just be abandoned by her mother that way. That's just awful, and I suspect it is influencing her decision to get pregnant (at least I hope so, because at 14, consent is legally impossible and at least practically dubious) and to keep it. That poor child.

But fuck, throughout history women have mopped up the mess created by other people, and you can't be expected to do so here. As a previous poster said, if your husband feels so strongly about your Sdaughter keeping her baby, he can pay for a nanny. It's not up to you to be the unpaid help unto infinity.

Do come back and tell us how your dinner went.

piscesmoon · 26/10/2010 08:17

I am amazed at the number of people who think that a woman who hasn't chosen to have a baby has to suddenly change her entire life to look after someone else's. What about Tess's choice?
I don't think that you can force her to have an abortion but you can force her to give the details-if you are left literally holding the baby you need all the facts. Also the father deserves to know and the rest of his family have the right to know that they have a grandchild, nephew etc. If she goes ahead the DC has the right to know all his/her family.
Getting impartial advice would be the best step-you are all too emotionally bound up in it.
I think thae baby, if brought into the world, deserves the best and a child mother isn't the best. If you thionk it is OK I wonder how many of you would employ a 14 yr old nanny for your baby? I guess noone.

GivesHeadlessHorseman · 26/10/2010 08:17

Again - why all this talk of her life being 'destroyed' by having an abortion as a result of adult pressure? We project our opinions onto our children all the time, and put pressure on them where choices and behaviours that will affect their life and their future are concerned - why should this be different?

She is a child! She needs to be told what's good for her! Should she be respected in her choice to get into a car with three drunken 18 year olds? After all, it may change her life forever. What about if she suddenly decides at 14 that she wants to drop out of education? Leave home to live with a 40 year old man? Start taking class A drugs? Should we just sit back and 'respect' her decision to make choices that will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on her?

An abortion will only destroy her mentally if she is encouraged to persist in the delusion that having a baby while she is a child is a good thing. She may have already googled all the pregnancy cupport groups and charities, and she may have been brinwashed inot thinking that she will feel violated, not respected, and blackmailed into giving up something utterly wonderful and perfect that would have made her idyllically happy, that she will never experience again.

It's all about how it is sold to her. Instead of being packaged as a 'huge loss' it should be seen as a lucky escape, and second chance - an opportunity for her to be the best mum she can be - in a few more years, under more appropriate circumstances.

For every girl who says she's 'grieving' for a baby she wanted to keep, there are probably a hundred more living a full and happy life, enjoying their carefree youth, completing their education or building a career and not looking back. And another hundred living a frustrating unfulfilling half-life, either alone, or with some feckless twat of a boyfriend who would rather be out with his mates, no money, no light at the end of the tunnel, no respect from anyone because she is seen as a fool, and a burden on the state, and living with the knowledge that her child is considered by the authorities as 'disadvantaged' because of the naive ill-informed choices she made.

It should be explained to her that post- abortion she may experience a hormonal response that will be like that of miscarriage, and that she may go into a short term depression or post traumatic stress, but that is a perfectly normal biological response, and should not be confused with being depressed beacuse she has made the wrong decision. Forewarned is forearmed. I think in the past too many girls may have had terminations like having a tooth out, without any thought to the fact that they may need support afterwards for a bit.

What I find amazing is the counselling and assessing you have to go through before the docotrs will agree that you are strong enough to 'cope' mentally with the enormity of the decision to terminate - yet no-one bothers to do the same when you want to bring a baby into the world, which is BEYOND enormous in comparison. You can be as emotionally fragile and ill-equipped as you like and it doesn't matter a jot. You are perfectly within your rights to make that decision all by yourself. But if it turns out you are not up to the job you can have you child forcibly removed, which will do untold mental damage to the woman AND the child. Hmm That's arse about face to me.

People who say their lives were ruined by being pressured into termination are probably people who were a bit emotionally unstable and needy in the first place.

piscesmoon · 26/10/2010 08:19

Sorry-written in haste. I just hate the thought that you don't think your baby should put up with a 14 yr old in charge but it is OK for other babies!

GivesHeadlessHorseman · 26/10/2010 08:21

Confused What was that post in reference to pisces?

Lougle · 26/10/2010 08:21

Tess, I hope last night was helpful to you all. Please do give that number a ring - the lady sounded very experienced, and they fall under sexual health, so I think fairly impartial, not pro-life or pro-abortion, just pro-help-and-advice.

GivesHeadlessHorseman · 26/10/2010 08:27

And in addition to my last long post, if she truly feels the genuine loss of that child, then she will, no doubt get pregnant again, on purpose. But hopefully by that time she'll be 16 and she will be free to fuck up her own life without fucking the OP's as well.

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