An Australian fitness vlogger has revealed her hurt and confusion when her doctor advised that she abort her baby.
Sarah Stevenson, whose YouTube channel has over 1.5 million subscribers, explained in a video alongside husband Kurt how excited she had been when she discovered she was pregnant with their second child.
But their joy was short-lived when they were told following a routine prenatal test, that their unborn son was likely to have a disability and that it would be best to abort him.
‘Stop and start again’
Sarah had a follow-up appointment during which further testing took place, and Sarah said that she and Kurt were approaching the issue with a positive mindset – reminding themselves that “regardless of the outcome, you know, we’re going to love this baby, this is God’s plan”.
we’re going to love this baby
But she was left gobsmacked by the physician saying: “my recommendation to you is definitely ‘Stop and start again'”. When Sarah asked for clarification she was told to abort, “for your own wellbeing, and for the wellbeing of your child”.
Opening up about her confusion and doubt she said: “I would have full days where I’m thinking ‘Well, he’s a doctor, he specialises in this – if he’s telling me to terminate, maybe I should.'”
She added: “I’d have times where I’m like ‘Maybe it’s negligent of me, maybe it’s mean of me to have this baby – I don’t know’. This doctor really got in my head”.
Prayer, Bible
The vlogger, who returned to the Christian faith of her youth following the birth of her first child, said she began researching what an abortion looked like at that point in her pregnancy and that after praying about it, “nothing in my heart or in my body felt right to terminate this baby”.
She revealed how she leant on God over the course of the ordeal, saying: “I was pouring worship music into our house, I was praying healing over our baby, I was reading the Bible”, and added that her friends were “amazing”, supporting her by praying with her and for her.
Sarah said the decision not to abort came during a women’s prayer group where she felt “this peace that he was going to be fine” and that “he is designed for us”. She added that her Bible readings supported her decision, explaining: “Everything I was reading was like ‘I have knitted you together’, ‘before you were in the womb, I knew you’.”
Sarah and Kurt are looking forward to welcoming their baby boy early next year.
Mum who refused to abort son with Down’s syndrome shares “unspeakable joy”
Mum offered an abortion ‘every week’ gives birth to healthy boy