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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

This is the saddest article I've ever read!

135 replies

Chillyegg · 04/02/2015 18:23

Women forced to be sterilised by courts!

m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31128969
I feel so sorry for this lady and her children.

OP posts:
stateoftheart · 04/02/2015 18:25

Link doesn't work Confused

sliceofsoup · 04/02/2015 18:27

I saw this earlier. Very sad.

I do see why they have ruled this, but I do think its the thin end of the wedge and that worries me.

sliceofsoup · 04/02/2015 18:27

clicky link

Bair · 04/02/2015 18:29

Same feeling here Slice. Can see why, but you can see where too iyswim.

PtolemysNeedle · 04/02/2015 18:30

It's very sad, but it makes sense to me.

Shamazeballs · 04/02/2015 18:30

All of her children are in care and her and a potential subsequent baby could die. I don't feel sorry for her, I think it's the right ruling and could save her life. She doesn't even understand how she got pregnant from what I read on the BBC site so I can't begin to fathom the toll mentally that pregnancy puts on her.

ginmakesitallok · 04/02/2015 18:31

I don't think it is very sad actually. The woman is now protected against another pregnancy, a decision not taken lightly by the courts

sosix · 04/02/2015 18:31

I thought I'd be horrifiec but it seems that it is best for DD and any further children. Sad

Kachan · 04/02/2015 18:33

This decision will not gave been taken lightly by the Court of Protection. It is very sad but all aspects of the situation will have been weighed very carefully in the process of arriving at the decision.

Only1scoop · 04/02/2015 18:35

I think this would be far more sad if she carried on having babies and risked their life and hers.

ifgrandmahadawilly · 04/02/2015 18:44

YABVU. When someone doesn't have the mental capacity to make decisions regarding their health, obviously they have to be made for them. This includes matters of fertility.

Of course it's not nice for the lady in question to have to go through surgery and it's aftermath but it also wouldn't be nice for her to get pregnant again and lose the baby / have it taken into care.

The courts have had the power to order this kind of treatment for a very long time. It is not the start of some slippery slope.

You should hear what's been going on in the American Prison System re forced sterilisation. Much worse.

MaidOfStars · 04/02/2015 18:52

The better of the two alternatives, IMO.

Original poster
Chillyegg · 04/02/2015 18:55

Thank you for link sliceofsoupGrin

I don't see why I'm unreasonable to feel compassion and sadness for another human being, who's bodies autonomy has been taken from them because of their personal situation.
I don't think any reasonable person would want a baby or this women to come to harm. Hmm

OP posts:
ZeldaMae · 04/02/2015 18:56

I thought the ruling was very sensitively expressed and it's obvious everyone involved understands the gravity of the ruling and that it is an extraordinary situation.

BarbarianMum · 04/02/2015 18:57

I think it's sad that it's come to this but honestly what is the alternative?

TedAndLola · 04/02/2015 18:57

I thought the ruling was very sensitively expressed and it's obvious everyone involved understands the gravity of the ruling and that it is an extraordinary situation.

I agree.

MaidOfStars · 04/02/2015 18:58

But this is being framed (rightly or wrongly) as a medical intervention to save her life. And on those terms, it's not unusual to intervene without consent (although that's usually in an emergency situation).

makeminea6x · 04/02/2015 18:58

Just because this is the right decision doesn't stop the whole thing being sad. 6 children growing up in care, 2 adults confused and not understanding their children having to be taken away and a woman experiencing multiple births which must have been terrifying. Pretty sad.

Original poster
Chillyegg · 04/02/2015 18:59

Also I have in no way suggested it's a a slippery slope.

Questions that came to my mind were what is her support system?

Yes it will certainly be "unpleasant" for the lady how will this be explained?

For me when an individual's choices get taken from them for right reasons or wrong then that is extremely sad.

OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 04/02/2015 19:00

But to say it is the saddest thing you've ever read? Do you never read articles about the terrible things that happen to people that are not for their benefit?

Original poster
Chillyegg · 04/02/2015 19:01

makeminea6x thank-you you've completely articulated my feelings!

OP posts:
Horseradishes · 04/02/2015 19:01

Wtf?! This is the saddest for you? What about the pilot burned to death? Or 911? Or jimmy Saville?

This decision has been made for the woman's physical wellbeing, from the sounds of her previous suffering and that of her children it sounds like the decision has come too late.

Gileswithachainsaw · 04/02/2015 19:03

Oh god.

talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If she doesn't possess the mental capability to understand the severity of the situation I'm. Not sure what alternative there is.

What do you suggest if the next pregnancy would kill her

UterusUterusGhali · 04/02/2015 19:04

It's sad, but necessary.

She didn't choose to get pregnant. She doesn't understand how it happens.
She could have tens of children, she wouldn't be able to keep them.

This will give her the right to life.

She is having her babies at home. If her uterus ruptures (highly likely) she and the baby will die.

Original poster
Chillyegg · 04/02/2015 19:05

I would say it is one if the saddest things I've read. No way am I suggesting that the atrocities that occur in this country or any other are "less sad". Maybe because I'm pregnant with my first Child I feel really emotional about this article.

OP posts: