VICTORIA, B.C., February 3, 2014 (
LifeSiteNews.com)
– A Canadian woman and her unborn child are being kept on life support
at the insistence of the husband and father who wants to give his unborn
son, now at 27 weeks gestation, what he calls a “chance of survival”.
Doctors declared Robyn Benson, 32, “brain dead” at the end of December,
one day after suddenly suffering a massive blood leak to her brain. She
was 22 weeks pregnant with the couple’s first child.
Iver Cohen Benson
But husband Dylan Benson, also 32, immediately told doctors to keep his wife on life support.
“The thought process behind this is that if they can keep her body
alive and growing our child until she is 26 weeks pregnant, it will give
our unborn son a 60 to 80% chance of surviving a C-section at that
time,” Benson wrote on a
blog.
The father has already named his unborn son Iver Cohen Benson.
The story comes just one week after a
Texas father obtained a judge’s order
that forced hospital staff to remove life support from his 33-year-old
wife who had been pronounced “brain dead.” When her life support was
removed she was carrying their 22-week-old baby. Advocates fighting for
the baby’s life called the move an “execut[ion] by judicial tyranny."
While Benson is devastated by the loss of his beloved wife, he believes
that he is honoring her by doing everything to protect their child.
“Her family and my friends are all very supportive and all think that
my wife would want me to try and give our child the best life possible,
so that’s what I’m going to try and do, assuming that all goes well and I
actually get to meet him.”
Benson said the “toughest part” is knowing that the day his son is born
is also the day he will have to say goodbye to his wife.
“She is my rock. She does everything for us and I can’t believe I won’t
get to talk to her again and now if this works, our son will grow up
never meeting his wonderful mother,” he writes.
An ultrasound last week showed that the baby is growing and developing well.
“Amazingly things are still remaining healthy as far as my wife’s body goes,” said Benson.
“She still looks so beautiful, and for the most part she looks like
she’s sleeping. I miss her so much. I’m so proud of her for how strong
she is holding up for Iver. I wish so badly that I could talk to her
just one more time. I’m trying so hard to stay so strong but when I
think about having to live the rest of my life without her, it’s so
hard.”
Critics of the “brain dead” criteria for establishing death say the
fact that a pregnant woman can continue nourishing a child in her womb
explodes the whole theory. In the case of the Texas mother, Operation
Rescue President Troy Newman said: “The public has been given the
erroneous impression that Marlise is a dead and decaying corpse.
Marlise’s heart continues to beat and she continues to nourish her
pre-born baby. A rotting corpse cannot do that.”
Benson has taken leave from work to be with his wife and unborn child around the clock.
Family and friends have stepped in with offers of support and encouragement. A
fundraising campaign has been launched to cover Benson’s expenses during his absence from work. Over $46,000 have been raised out of a $36,000 goal.
“My days right now consist of a lot of time with family and close
friends, and of course time at the hospital visiting Iver and Robyn, and
hoping every minute for their health to continue,” wrote Benson in his
fundraising appeal.
Source:
Lifesitenews
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