This week, I read two stories about different women whose unborn babies were most likely to die before birth.

A Miami, Florida, couple almost lost their baby girl in the womb. Doctors found a tennis ball-sized tumor growing on the unborn infant’s mouth, and said she probably wouldn’t survive birth.

The second story came from a heartbreaking blog post from a woman who found out her pregnancy would likely result in miscarriage. Her baby’s heart beat was slow, and it wasn’t growing. After remembering the pain of an earlier miscarriage, she contemplated an abortion.

The Miami couple continued to hope and sought another doctor. They found a surgeon who operated on the baby in utero and removed the tumor – a procedure that was the first of its kind. The child was born several months later, healthy and strong. Read more about it here: http://www.lifenews.com/2012/06/21/worlds-first-surgery-removes-tumor-from-unborn-babys-lips

The blogger’s story ended differently. She decided to have an abortion, concluding that there was no good choice in her situation. Read about it here:  http://boingboing.net/2012/06/20/the-only-good-abortion-is-my-a.html

But I believe she did have a better choice than abortion. She even mentioned it in her blog when she writes:  “I want the doctors to be wrong. I want to have one of those miracles where everything turns out to be okay and I am relieved to find that I haven’t actually lost everything.”

There is no hope in an abortion, a termination. When someone chooses to have an abortion, they erase the chance for a miracle, in these cases for the birth of a child. Hope doesn’t guarantee rosy endings, but it leaves the future open to possibility.

The Miami couple put their hope on the line when they took a chance on a brand new medical procedure. Their hope resulted in something wonderful – a healthy baby girl.