Medical technology is amazing. Today, surgery that used to be done with a scalpel is now done with a laser. My little brother recently had laser eye surgery and is very satisfied with the results. All the technology has actually created a few ethical dilemmas for end of life care as families and doctors try to determine how much to intervene to keep a terminal patient alive.
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Although ethical dilemmas at the end of life have increased, the new technology has helped to answer many questions about the beginning of life. Our family has been growing quickly and my wife is expecting again. Medical technology helped us to see a beautiful ultrasound of our new child even though he or she is only 12 weeks old. We could have actually seen our baby even sooner, but it was amazing how detailed this little person already is. We watched the legs kick and the arms wave. The head was clearly visible. The picture looked like a totally formed baby, just smaller. It looked like a baby because this person is a baby. Though we already have our hands full with our other three boys, we are excited to welcome this new child into our home soon.
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If for some reason we were not able to care for this child, there are many couples who would love to have a new baby but are unable to. My cousin and his wife were such a couple and now they have both a son and a daughter because two biological mothers chose life and adoption.
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We are not considering putting our new baby up for adoption, but my wife’s grandmother did. My mother in law was adopted by a loving couple after her teenage mother gave her up for adoption. She was able to benefit from the love of a mother who carried her to term and then gave her to another loving mother who raised her. Because Grandma Pam chose life so many years ago, we were able to see her great-grandchild on a 12 week ultrasound.
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Luke chapter 1 talks about Elisabeth being six months along in her pregnancy and in vs. 41 it says the baby leaped in her womb. The Bible is clear that what is in the womb is a life, not just tissue. Psalm 51:5 and 139:13-14, Exodus 21:22-25, and Job 31:15 all show that a pregnancy is a human life.
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As I write this, I understand that not all readers will share my views or even the Bible’s views on this matter. I do have one request though. If you ever find yourself overwhelmed with the news of a pregnancy, please get an ultrasound from a doctor who regularly does them so that he is able to get the sort of quality images that we saw. Take a look at what is growing inside of you and see how wonderfully amazing that little life really is.
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Then if you are still overwhelmed, do not feel ashamed of giving a baby up for adoption if you are unable or just too busy to care for him/her. We should not view adoption as a selfish choice at all. It gives childless couples the opportunity to be parents and it gives babies life. It gave my mother-in-law life. Thank you grandma Pam.
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