Jessica chooses life, twice, and has no regrets

As a mother of three healthy children, Jessica Schmitt expected her fourth pregnancy to be normal, and she looked forward to welcoming the new addition to her growing family. Instead, she faced her first pregnancy diagnosis and pressure to undergo an abortion.

A heartbreaking diagnosis
During Schmitt’s eight-week ultrasound, the technician noticed an abnormality, and she was referred to a maternal-fetal medicine doctor who specialized in managing pregnancy complications.

Schmitt told Live Action News, “The second ultrasound showed nothing unusual. We had been scared for nothing, but we did learn we were having a girl and decided to throw a gender party surrounded by family and friends.”

Because she was over the age of 35, Schmitt was advised to continue monitoring by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. At 20 weeks, Schmitt went alone for her third ultrasound – and learned her baby was not growing normally.

“After the ultrasound, the technician left the room for what seemed like an eternity,” Schmitt said. “I started to worry, my mother’s intuition telling me there was something wrong.”

Her worst fears were confirmed when the doctor walked into the room and asked where her husband was. She called her husband at work, who hurried to be by her side. “We were told our baby had large polycystic kidneys and encephalocele, a condition where brain tissue grows through an opening in the skull,” Schmitt said. “Her condition was ‘not compatible with life’. The initial shock was tremendous.”

The couple was encouraged to undergo genetic testing, which revealed they were both carriers of a genetic disorder called Meckel-Gruber syndrome, a rare, life-limiting (often fatal) disease marked by renal cystic dysplasia and central nervous system abnormalities like encephalocele.

“There weren’t a lot of doctors who knew about Meckel-Gruber syndrome and how to treat it,” Schmitt said. “Most women will terminate their pregnancies when given a prognosis of extreme genetic discrepancies and it’s not common for two people to be carriers of this disorder.”

Now facing an unimaginable crisis, Schmitt, who had been raised in a pro-life home, would never have imagined her principles would be put to such a test. Yet she didn’t waver in her choice to carry her baby to term.

Schmitt said, “My obstetrician was supportive, and I knew it was the right decision even though I was scared.”

But Schmitt’s primary care physician was not so encouraging about the pregnancy.

“He was worried about my mental health and was convinced that having an abortion would be better for me emotionally and physically,” Schmitt said. “He felt I would be devastated if I gave birth to a baby who died soon afterward. We ended up getting into an argument and I eventually cut him off. I am so grateful to have had a pro-life obstetrician to walk with me through a difficult time.”

To prepare, Schmitt met with the medical team at the Catholic hospital where she would give birth to her daughter. “They told me all medical decisions would be mine to make, and they would support my decisions as the baby’s mother,” she said.

At 42 weeks, the daughter she named Caroline was born — but as expected, Caroline lived just a short time after birth.

“For the time we had her, all she knew was love, no pain,” Schmitt said. “She was given godparents, was baptized, and we held her as she transitioned to heaven.”

The hospital had put a “cuddle cot” in Schmitt’s room where the family spent private time with Caroline. “The prenatal hospice program helped me create memories of Caroline, which was cathartic,” Schmitt said.

She allowed the hospital to perform an autopsy so they could learn more about the disease, and hosted a large funeral to memorialize Caroline.

“At the funeral, it was standing room only, which was such a testament to the community support we received and how much our daughter was loved,” Schmitt said. “She has a physical grave where we can visit her.”

Another baby receives the same diagnosis
In 2020, Schmitt again became pregnant and suffered a pulmonary embolism. The maternal-fetal medicine specialist suggested she have an abortion.

Schmitt said, “Having a pulmonary embolism put me at risk for maternal death. I had to give myself injections.”

A month later, Schmitt learned that the baby she was carrying – another girl – also had Merkel-Gruber syndrome, and once again, chose to continue her pregnancy. The daughter she named Josephine was born at 35 weeks, and lived for two hours and ten minutes after birth.

“It was devastating to lose another child,” Schmitt said. “But her life was a gift. And, as before, I had a wonderful pro-life obstetrician who stood by me, even when other doctors didn’t [and suggested] I should concentrate on the living children I had and let go of pregnancies that weren’t viable.”

But Schmitt felt all her babies were valuable – even those in the womb who had little chance of survival when born.

Schmitt said, “I had been planning to have an induction because of the pulmonary embolism but Josephine was born naturally, a testament to God’s perfect timing. She was so beautiful. I am grateful I had the chance to hold both my babies and see their precious faces.”

Her soul, she believes, would have been crushed had she chosen to abort her babies.

In fact, research shows it is beneficial to the mother to carry her child to term after a prenatal diagnosis. In a study of 267 parents who lost a child due to a diagnosis of life-limiting anencephaly, women who chose abortion reported significantly more despair and depression than women who carried to term. Additional research on infant loss found that while any prenatal or infant loss is traumatic, “[r]isk of complicated grief was found to be especially high after termination of a pregnancy due to fetal abnormality.”

In a study of 405 parents who carried to term following the prenatal diagnosis of a life-limiting condition, 97.5% of participants reported an absence of regret in carrying to term. Another study determined that “[c]ouples experienced selective termination as traumatic … [T]he women ultimately felt as if they were betraying themselves and their babies.” Additional research shared by the organization Be Not Afraid supports this; it says that parents who carry to term report being emotionally prepared for their child’s birth and possible death, and share that they felt “a sense of gratitude and peace surrounding the brief life of their child.”

Schmitt explained, “I would have been a shell of a person, robbed of holding my children if I had given into pressure to abort. I had a loving supportive community and was able to grieve openly. With an abortion, you’re alone and you cope by stuffing the pain down deep inside where it can destroy you.”

The Schmitt family thinks of Caroline and Josephine often. Her three other children refer to them as “our sisters who are in heaven.”

Schmitt said, “I’ve never regretted my choices and would do it all over again. Choosing abortion would have destroyed me, my family, and my marriage. I’m not saying it was an easy road because it wasn’t. But having pro-life doctors who walked alongside was very important.”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]