The Road of Bittersweet « Charlotte was Both

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The Road of Bittersweet

December 14, 2007 by Amy

The little boy featured in this video with his loving family died 11 minutes after he was born, last week. The parents had received a diagnosis of anencephaly earlier in the pregnancy, were advised to abort, but made the decision to accept the “counsel and wisdom of the Church and bring him to full term” (from a letter accompanying the video). This video was played at his funeral. Beautiful and profoundly life-affirming.

Be Not Afraid is a website dedicated to supporting, in life-affirming ways, parents and families who receive a poor or difficult prenatal diagnosis for their child. Take a look and keep it in mind - someone you know might need it someday.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

9 Responses to “The Road of Bittersweet”

on December 14, 2007 at 10:01 am1 Irenaeus

Interesting…one of my colleagues and his wife had an anencephalic baby some years back. My wife is 12 wks pregnant and all seems well, but things like this are in the back of mind. What if X or Y? What would we do? Thanks for posting stuff like this.
on December 14, 2007 at 11:15 am2 Sr. Lorraine

While there can be various causes for anencephaly and we can’t know the cause in any given case, there is evidence that adequate consumption of folic acid can help to prevent at least some of these cases. I found this info:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that up to 3,000 of these neural tube birth defects could be prevented each year if women consumed folic acid each day before pregnancy and during the early months of pregnancy. “
on December 14, 2007 at 2:11 pm3 tom faranda

Thanks for posting this powerful affirmation of love and life.
on December 14, 2007 at 9:23 pm4 Nerina

What a lesson for us all. And what a testament of love for their other children. God bless this couple and all who face such difficult prenatal diagnoses.
on December 16, 2007 at 7:18 am5 Firmalar

Thanks for posting this powerful affirmation of love and life. too
on December 17, 2007 at 8:21 am6 Redtabby

Very moving. I think that little guy came to exactly the right family. God bless every one of them.
on December 17, 2007 at 8:18 pm7 benotafraid

Thank you, Amy!

Monica (benotafraid.net)
on December 21, 2007 at 10:10 am8 SB

How kind of Sr. Lorraine to blame the victim. Who knows what God’s plan is in these cases, but it seems cruel to put the blame on a family that didn’t just take the easy way out. I’d expect more charity from my brothers and sisters.
on January 13, 2008 at 5:38 pm9 Angel

Dear SB,
I really didn’t take Sr. Lorraine’s comments as blaming the family.
I thought she was trying to give out important information all expecting women should know.
Please try not to assume everyone is being negative.
God Bless, Angel