Child Birth & Pro Creation Drama

[carlabesh]

I know of someone who has recently given birth and had a series of complications, operations and after many stitches has been told that if she were to have another child both she and the child can die due to the fact that her body is incapable of holding a child. she is also too young to have her uterus removed . my question is that if NFP is too tricky and dangerous... would it be a sin if she removed her uterus so as to preserve her own life?

[DavidObeid]

I'd advise her to see another obstetrician for a second opinion on the risks of subsequent pregnancies. She might be unable to labour in the future, but if she is lucky enough to be in a country like Australia, she has the option of c-section births eliminating the risks of uterine rupture on any scars she may have. Vaginal births after c-section (VBACs) are becoming more common too - My wife is post due to give birth to a fifth baby after an initial c-section for our first - that's a fifth VBAC. It really depends on how good a job the obstetrician did in delivering this baby, but the uterus is a pretty amazing organ. If in Sydney I recommend Dr. Amir Hanna. He seems to have his head screwed on and is motivated by maternal and child well being instead of being sued.

That said, if it is deemed that pregnancies in the foreseeable future are unwise NFP is neither tricky nor dangerous. The Couple to Couple League (http://www.ccli.org/) has loads of excellent information on NFP methods that after a bit of study are a piece of cake. Don't let the idea of study turn you off - there's less to learn in sound NFP techniques than the slut education that passes for sex education in schools these days.

If your friend and her husband have any questions about NFP techniques that they don't quite understand from the Couple to Couple League website that are of a personal nature, please encourage them to ask me in a private message.

[DavidObeid]

Sorry, forgot to deal with this:


... my question is that if NFP is too tricky and dangerous... would it be a sin if she removed her uterus so as to preserve her own life?

Yes. It is a sin to artificially sterilise oneself. This is different to needing a hysterectomy the results in sterilisation.

If a woman has uterine cancer, say, and gets a hysterectomy to save her life the intention is not to cause her to be sterilised (her sterilisation is an unavoidable and undesired consequence of the hysterectomy but it was not the reason for the hysterectomy). This is not a sin.

This is different to saying a woman should have a hysterectomy to avoid pregnancy (in this case the purpose of the hysterectomy is sterilisation). This is a sin.