PARENTING
in abundance
When presented with the choice to abort her unborn baby, Kim Dippenaar made the decision to trust God like never before. By Tamsyn Cornelius Pregnancy is an exciting time for many couples. For Kim and Jaco Dippenaar, the news of their first pregnancy, just a year after marriage, was a wonderfully thrilling time in their lives. “I remember being very excited and I couldn’t wait to share the news with Jaco,” Kim explains. Kim immediately called to set up a doctor’s appointment and like many other new moms, she began to dream of what life would be like with a new little bundle of joy. “They did some blood tests and confirmed that I was indeed pregnant. Jaco and I were so super excited about this amazing news.”
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EARTH-SHATTERING NEWS However, Kim’s joy was short-lived. Two days after receiving the good news, she received a call from the doctor’s office to say that they needed to speak to her in person. Immediately, they could tell that something was wrong. “I frantically phoned Jaco and got hold of my mom and some friends and family members.” The pair anxiously entered the doctor’s surgery and was told that Kim had Rubella or German measles. “Wait… what? I tried to focus on what the doctor was saying but found myself stuck in a tidal wave of panic and confusion. Was this really happening?”
The doctor then went on to explain the devastating effects of Rubella on an unborn foetus. Very often, the illness is passed to the unborn child and can lead to miscarriage, preterm birth, or stillbirth, as well as a variety of birth defects. “Jaco and I looked at one another in complete shock. We were speechless, like two dears caught in the headlights.” At that moment, the couple were faced with the devastating choice to abort their first child. “This was one of the toughest moments in my life. I was only 23-years-old and facing the choice of life or death. The experts were telling us that we were crazy