How severe would health problems have to be for you to terminate a pregnancy?

I’m watching a documentary about a couple who found out early in their pregnancy that the fetus had many problems, and was likely to be born blind, deaf, and both physically and mentally handicapped. I haven’t watched the whole documentary, so I don’t know what they decided to do or how badly things turned out—the story is about the parents trying to decide what to do, as all their doctors and loved ones advise them to terminate. One doctor went so far as to say that it would be the humane thing to do, as the baby was likely to experience a great deal of suffering.

There are a lot of horrible genetic diseases out there with varying levels of misery associated with them. How bad would it have to be for you to decide to terminate the pregnancy? Or would you be willing to bring the child to term, regardless?

I understand abortion is a heated topic, but I would like it if this could remain as civil as possible. Please try to state your own position without condemning or criticizing others’.

And, I would be especially interested to hear from parents who had children who were born with problems, either anticipated or not, and how your experiences turned out.