One brave mum told me she couldn’t remember the attack, but suffered as the baby grew inside her, attempting to take her life. Despite presenting to the world as an articulate and happy expectant mummy, she was retraumatised by the birth and re-lived this each year as her precious child celebrated their birthday.
Another shared her struggle to bond with her newborn with her health visitor. When told what had happened, the professional said she had to refer her to other services, because the assault had occurred in her home, and she was considered unable to keep herself and her children safe. They failed to recognise that she was the victim.
One mum did all she could to keep her little one safe in the small, close-knit community she shared with the rapist and his family. The child’s features were not only her daily reminder of the attacker, but worse still, she feared the resemblance could raise questions, resulting in the perpetrator demanding access to the child, with little she could do to stop them.
People don’t believe me when I share that there is nothing stopping perpetrators having access to children conceived via rape. They are horrified that a rapist can have legal rights over another human because of the crime they committed. A child conceived via rape cannot be the only proceed of crime that a convicted criminal has lifelong access to.
Full article https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/natalie-fleet-mp-children-born-of-rape-law