Couple wants to abort baby, plead for legal waiver

TO HER UNBORN CHILD: Niketa Mehta says she wants a healthy baby.

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Mumbai: The law says a child more than 20 weeks old in the womb cannot be aborted. Niketa Mehta and her husband Haresh don’t want to break the law but neither do they want their 24-week child to be born with a congenital heart defect.

The couple believes the child, if born, would have lifelong cardiac problems and never get the chance for a healthy life. They have petitioned before the Bombay High Court, which on Friday ordered medical tests on Niketa.

A division bench said a team of doctors must give a clear opinion on the condition of the unborn child to enable the court take a decision in the case.

“All I want is a healthy child—whatever the sex—the child should be healthy. I don’t want to be depressed after the child is born,” says Niketa.

The couple's doctor says it would be a difficult life for Niketa’s child. “For this child a pacemaker may have to be fitted immediately after birth. The pacemaker has a life period and will have to be replaced every four years,” says Dr Nikhil Datar.

The High Court had earlier directed the J J Hospital to examine Niketa and prepare a report on her condition but the doctors’ report was ambivalent. The report did not recommend abortion, but also said there is a fair chance the child may be born incapacitated and with no chance for a normal life.

Not all doctors are ambiguous though. “Today cardiac science has advanced enough to put a pacemaker which may give the baby a chance to live, so why not give it a chance,” says gynecologist Dr Mahendra Patel.