Jenni Lake is a young woman of 17 years who is suffering from cancer. She would wish to love a normal and healthy life, but the cancer has taken all her happiness. Even though she does not show any negative thing about her condition, she must be suffering a lot inside her heart. Suffering from brain tumor at her age is no joke, given that she has her entire life ahead of her. She has not even enjoyed a quarter of her life, but she has suffered too much. Her ethical dilemma comes in after realizing that she is pregnant. The news comes as a surprise because she thought she would never conceive, given that she is under medication. Therefore, she has a tough choice to choose between her life and that of her child, and she is pretty aware that whatever choice she makes, it will have a detrimental effect, to her or her baby (Associated Press, 2011).
After being stuck in thoughts, she decides to keep the baby. Indeed, Jenni made the right choice that would not please people that care about her such as her mother and her long-term boyfriend, but she knows why she has made this decision. Besides, she might not know exactly why she makes this decision, but it is the right decision she makes. She decides not to abort her fetus, meaning that she would not take the medication that will maintain her healthy being. Her moral dilemma was between her life and that of her unborn child, but she chooses the life of her fetus over her own life. This is indeed a tough decision to make. She values the life of her baby more than she values her own life, but it is the right decision she makes, and if it were me, I would advise her as exactly as she did. Besides, I think she would be overwhelmed with guilt if she goes ahead to terminate her pregnancy, and therefore, the right thing to do was to keep the baby regardless of the repercussions (Associated Press, 2011).
Jenni is suffering from brain tumor and she is under strong medication where she uses chemotherapy as well as radiation treatment. In one way or the other, these medications would make her sterile, and even though she is assured to get healed, she is well aware that she will never have a baby all her life (Associated Press, 2011). Just like any other women, she is determined to give birth to her own child to live a legacy when she dies, meaning that the news about her pregnancy is a lifetime opportunity that she cannot let go of. She did the right thing because her future was not defined, and she could have passed on any minute because brain tumor cannot be predicted because it can overweigh her health any minute. However, she is aware that her loved ones will mourn for some days, but will not feel sorry for her anymore, given that her condition is something that everyone sympathizes with. Besides, she will not live a life, and that is why she prefers to consider her child’s life over her own, because the child will live a long and healthy life.
Jenni’s decision to keep her child and neglect hers is a tough choice. I know pretty well that many people will not take it the way it is, but it was the best decision she made. Her life was not hers anymore, and that explains why she sacrificed her life for her child. Instead of living a life of loneliness, suffering from an illness she was not even sure of its outcomes, she decided to give birth to a baby that will always remind people of her, and that was ethically awesome.
References
Associated Press, (29 December 2011). The ultimate sacrifice: Teen dies days after delivering baby she saved by forgoing chemotherapy. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079137/Jenni-Lake-17-dies-days-delivering-baby-saved-foregoing-chemotherapy.html#ixzz4DKzIYjy6
