Failed Abortions - Twins

I came upon a web site today while searching for something else. The odd title drew my immediate attention: Twins--one aborted, one survives! I read the article and learned about some tragic cases of failed abortions.

Almost 40 years ago, a young mother decided to have an abortion. The physician performed a D & C (Dilation and curettage) which involved using a sharp instrument to remove the contents of the uterus; a procedure that was commonly used for abortions then.

No one, not even the physician, knew the young mother was pregnant with twins. Several weeks later the woman was shocked when she felt a baby kicking inside her. She'd had other children and was very familiar with the feeling of a baby moving inside her womb. She knew without a doubt that she was still pregnant and returned to the doctor who had performed the abortion and informed him that she had made a huge mistake. She was still pregnant, but now she wanted to keep this baby.

A few months later she gave birth to a baby girl. The joy of the birth was overshadowed by the fact that a tiny twin brother had been aborted months earlier. There had been two perfect babies once, and now the lost twin boy was gone forever. The surviving twin girl had many physical handicaps caused by her near-abortion. She required orthopedic surgeries on her tiny hips and legs at birth and will continue to need surgeries every five years for the rest of her life.

The mother has been deeply traumatized forever and greatly regrets having had the abortion. She has suffered extreme remorse and nearly unbearable pain throughout the years. Both mother and the surviving twin daughter have used the unfortunate situation to warn others of the possibility of failed abortions.

This story particularly interested me because the surviving twin reports that she has always felt incredibly lonely and thought that something was missing from her life. She says she has never felt 'whole' and has suffered from bouts of severe depression all her life, almost dying of anorexia nervosa at the age of 12. These are common symptoms voiced by many surviving twins. For more information on this phenomenon, read my AC article: Vanishing Twin Syndrome.

Another failed abortion story was about a man thought to be the oldest known abortion survivor. He says his life has not been easy or happy since his birth in 1949. He's had lifelong feelings of rejection and has suffered severe cravings for the affection and approval of his absent mother. He struggles with feelings of anger, resentment and loss, and was institutionalized as a teenager, and while he was there he tried to commit suicide. He is the surviving twin whose twin sister was killed when the mother tried to perform a self-inflicted abortion almost 60 years ago.

Another incident happened in 2004 when a woman in Boston, MA had a failed abortion procedure. Months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The mother is still in the process of suing two doctors and the Planned Parenthood Association for failing to perform a successful abortion.

Another failed attempt was performed by a doctor who used the suction abortion method and removed, what he believed to be, the entire contents of a young woman's uterus but , in truth, 'missed' the baby. What he had done was suction out most of the placenta and amniotic fluid. A baby girl was born several months later by C-section.

These are just a few of the many stories of failed abortions.