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Abortion was possibly easier to access back then. It was in the era before abortion opponents were able to pass state laws chipping away at a woman's right to abortion. I don't think that there were waiting periods back then.
But, she was in denial. And she was somehow so afraid and ashamed, that she wouldn't go to a hospital to give birth. Something was terribly wrong for her to give birth alone in her apartment. It's not like it happens in a second, and painlessly. Giving birth is a long, horribly painful, and traumatic experience. I cannot imagine doing it alone outside the hospital.
As for the father, he was her boyfriend, he knew she was visibly pregnant, he knew that then she wasn't, and he knew that the dead baby had been found. He knew. He knew.
It's horrible. She could have given birth at the hospital, and left him there to be adopted. She could have called for an ambulance after she gave birth, been taken to the hospital, and left him there to be adopted. Even back then, there was a tremendous demand for newborns, especially Caucasian ones, for adoption.
There's no excuse for what she did. Just understanding of the fear and shame surrounding unintended pregnancy, and her desperation. But still, no excuse.
Not only was she young and stupid, but she was also cold,heartless,classless,brutal,and a murderer.
Are we supposed to say “gee, it’s ok,after all you were so young and stupid? All is forgiven”.
Not in my book. I have ZERO sympathy for this murdering animal.
Same.
She left the infant outside. He froze to death. There were frozen tears on his face!
Heartless, repugnant, heinous, reprehensible, unspeakable horror, etc are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of this situation.
She made a choice to be a murderess over a mother. I am so tired of society giving these young women a pass. Poor her.
Oh gosh... any firehouse I think... even places that aren’t designated - if poeple find an infant at their door, they will care for it. Period. I didn’t the details.
Point further, I’m stunned at the level of info (digital, biological, whatevs) give away freely... people dont think about what may happen to their genetic material - (bet zero people read the full terms and conditions or if they did, could not grasp every note of legalese to beware of) and how it will likely be used in the future (Patriot Act - what extreme, harmful ‘gateway’).
Do not misunderstand- in no way do I condone what this woman did. Her actions may or may not have mitigating factors - courts will figure that.
My point is that people are thoughtlessly giving away just about everything and I promise - it will be used for profit and any/everything else.
No the idiotic trope that being innocent means you have nothing to hide - no worries - is well, idiocy. Your info can be used fraudulently- taking years to correct, if lucky.
it still happens today it seems of children being tortured, starved, abandoned. This is utterly heartbreaking. I'm all for disallowing people to procreate until they've had parenthood training. If they fail, they get spayed.
it still happens today it seems of children being tortured, starved, abandoned. This is utterly heartbreaking. I'm all for disallowing people to procreate until they've had parenthood training. If they fail, they get spayed.
Agree. From what I've observed, too many people have kids because of family pressure or because everyone they know is having them or for other nonsensical reasons.
Is keeping it or adoption an option when your obviously terrified to let anyone know your even pregnant?
Leaving it to be found would come back to her and she would have to face all the shame and fear she was avoiding to begin with and then face prosecution. Selling it, same.
Keep in mind I'm not defending her just looking into the mental state of teens/women who do this. It is not so black and white, cut and dried. People argue that the human brain is not "mature" until about age 25. They use this argument to justify limiting freedoms to those under a certain age like having sex, marriage, voting, drinking, signing contracts, etc. There are lots of studies on how stress and desperation influence our thought processes as well as how pregnancy hormonal imbalance affect a women's mental and emotional state.
Whether or not there are others who are infertile has no bearing on the state of mind of someone facing a taboo pregnancy possible with no support or even worse facing retribution from family and society in general. This was in 1981. There were no safe haven laws, there were few organizations or programs to help unmarried pregnant women and society was certainly not accepting of unmarried pregnant women.
Given all this I can understand what would drive a young teen to behave so irrationally (again understanding not defending) and thankfully society has come around and put some safeguards in place to try and prevent these kind of things. I'm not sure we are all the way there yet as abandoning infants still goes on.
I agree with you. I did some very stupid things as a teen, and my three older siblings were worse.
When my older sister got pregnant when she was a teen, there were many evenings of screaming, things being thrown. I once tiptoed down the steps from the second floor to see my mother standing over my sister (who was lying on the floor) beating her with a shoe. Mom was targeting her head.
If that's the sort of help that she expected, I'm not at all surprised that she didn't tell anyone.
I got a rep say "it wasnt fruitless" not sure why the author doesnt contribute to the discussion instead of posting opinions in the reps.
They may have already or they don't have the chutzpah to state their opinion or commentary in a current and ongoing discussion.
In my view I neither excuse nor condone the abandonment of this precious baby...BUT, I have also not walked in her shoes and cannot possibly imagine her terror, uncertainty and decades of huge guilt in the aftermath.
Maybe her life's circumstances and further investigation will reveal her life at that point in time. Fwiw, both baby and mother have my prayers.
BUT, I have also not walked in her shoes and cannot possibly imagine her terror, uncertainty and decades of huge guilt in the aftermath.
Maybe her life's circumstances and further investigation will reveal her life at that point in time. Fwiw, both baby and mother have my prayers.
She could have anonymously left the baby in a church, hospital, or any other public place. She left the baby in a ditch in freezing cold temperatures. To die.
What she did was cold-hearted and cold blooded. While I could have empathized with her situation, the way she handled it leaves me with empathy only for the baby.
How do you know she felt anything about it in the aftermath?
I agree with you. I did some very stupid things as a teen, and my three older siblings were worse.
When my older sister got pregnant when she was a teen, there were many evenings of screaming, things being thrown. I once tiptoed down the steps from the second floor to see my mother standing over my sister (who was lying on the floor) beating her with a shoe. Mom was targeting her head.
If that's the sort of help that she expected, I'm not at all surprised that she didn't tell anyone.
This happened when this girl was 19, and apparently, she was living in her own apartment.
I keep seeing people mentioning how terrified she must have been. Of what? She wasn't a young teen living at home, and this happened in 1981, not 1681.
Even if she were so "terrified" that she hid the pregancy, she could have left it on a doorstep, rang the bell, and run instead of leaving the infant in a ditch to freeze.
Lock her up.
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