A baby boy in Britain who survived a late-term abortion has been described as a “little miracle” by a judge.
The unnamed child, referred to as ‘A’ during a custody case at the Family Court in East London, is now 16 months old, having survived a termination at 26 weeks when doctors moved to save the life of his mother who was suffering seizures and suspected meningitis and encephalopathy. The woman was given abortion-inducing drugs but the baby survived the procedure and spent the following five months recovering in hospital. The child now has a number of medical conditions requiring fulltime care.
The details of the delivery of baby ‘A’ were laid out before Judge Carol Atkinson who was ruling in the custody case. The child’s father was seeking full custody after it emerged that the mother was unwilling or unable to care for her son. The child had initially been taken into foster care when medical staff expressed concerns and as a result of the mother making serious allegations against the father.
However, following a detailed investigation, those allegations were proved untrue and Judge Atkinson awarded full custody to the father with the support of his extended family, with access granted to the mother.
Describing the story of baby A and his survival as “quite remarkable”, Judge Atkinson said, “[He] is a little miracle”.