Couple forced to abort Brussels for malformations at the end of pregnancy

Uportuguese couple were forced to go to Brussels in Belgium to have an abortion after a serious malformation in the fetus had been diagnosed after the legal deadline for termination of pregnancy in Portugal.

In declarations to SIC News, the mother, who did not want to be identified, points out that throughout pregnancy she was always told that “everything was fine” and only in the last ultrasound was discovered a large cyst in the child’s brain, suspecting the possibility of being Aicardi Syndrome. 

It is a rare genetic disease that mainly affects the development of the brain and is mainly associated with females, which can cause epilepsy, changes in vision and developmental difficulties.

“ Our daughter's malformations fit a severe spectrum. What is it? The girls with Aicardi Syndrome are girls who have huge seizures throughout the day,” he explained.

“ They cannot move, walk, eat alone, breathe alone”, he added.

Parents decided to go to the private health service to perform new tests, which eventually confirmed suspicions. In view of the diagnosis, they made a request for a Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVG), which was denied by the Technical Committee for Certification of Pregnancy Interruption (CTCIG) for being out of date.

In Portugal, the law sets the 24 weeks of pregnancy as the limit for stopping pregnancy when there are safe reasons for predicting that the baby will incur a serious disease or congenital malformation. This deadline may be exceeded if the fetus is considered to be unfeasible.

With the request denied, the couple traveled to Brussels and managed to abort at 36 weeks and three days – 35 days after the first suspicions that the baby might have health problems.

“ If I had been selfish, I would have had it. ... The love of wanting it in my arms ", stressed the mother.

“ Every time I faced this decision, I thought, ‘Would I want to live this life? Would I want to be in her place?’ And no,” he added.

Now, given that there are several diseases that are only detectable after the 24 weeks of gestation, a petition has been put in place to extend the deadline.