“Jane, I do hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are in fact pregnant.” Jane’s doctor said with a solemn face. Jane sobbed, wondering what she was going to do. She was a senior in high school and was about to graduate and go to college. She had her whole life planned out, and this was definitely not a part she planned. She knew that if she wanted to do what she had planned that she could not keep the baby. She had to figure out her options.
“What are my options in this case?” Jane asked.
“Well, …show more content…
She ended up choosing a medical abortion. As time passed, Jane became depressed. She felt guilty about ending the baby’s life and knew there was nothing she could do about it. The damage was already done. Should Jane have picked to abort the baby over giving it up for adoption, and should Jane’s doctor have given Jane the choice of adoption before he brought up abortion? Should adoption be more readily available than abortion?
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Abortion. What exactly is an abortion? An abortion is an intentional ending of a pregnancy. Typically, when having an abortion, a surgery is performed to remove the fetus from the mother’s womb before the baby has been born. There are several different types of abortions; however, there are three main types. The first is a medical abortion. In a medical abortion, there is no surgery that takes place. A woman simply takes prescribed medicine at the start of the pregnancy to abort the baby. This type of abortion is typically used until the nine-week mark (Ramah International n.p.).
Surgical Abortion. The second type of abortion is a surgical abortion. In a surgical abortion, through a surgical process, a fetus is removed from a woman’s uterus (Ramah International n.p.). This process typically takes place with a syringe or a curet. A curet is a spoon-shaped device with a sharp edge. This surgical procedure is also known as a “suction curettage” (Ramah International …show more content…
For many, adoption is the only option they have. Many couples face infertility issues and are unable to have their own children, so they rely on these children placed into the adoption system. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website, “Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant after having regular intercourse without birth control for one year.” One in every ten women are faced with infertility issues (HHS n.p.) While there are ways to treat some cases of infertility, many couples are not so lucky and are never blessed with a child of their own. For these cases, many choose to adopt. Adopting is like a form of mutualism. It gives the couple a chance to have the child that they could not have on their own, and gives a child the family that it did not previously have. Both the child and the couple benefit (HHS n.p.).
Adoption Statistics. Adoption is a common process that takes place. On average, there are 261,728 worldwide adoptions each year (Travel State n.p.) The majority of the children being adopted are either under the age of one or between one and two years of age. These both take up about 200,000 of the adoptions in a year. Three to four year olds take up 25,000. Five to twelve year olds take up about 30,000. Thirteen to seventeen year olds take up about 15,000. Lastly, eighteen year olds take up nearly zero (HHS