Through
a heart wrenching social media post describing the miscarriage of
twins, a mother is hoping to shed a new light on the sanctity of human
life.
Felicia Cash took to Facebook on Monday to share that she had
recently lost not one but two babies after 14 weeks of pregnancy. As
though the news wasn’t painful enough, Cash made the brave decision to
post photos of one of her stillborn children to demonstrate that—even at
just three and half months gestation—a child is more than “a cluster of
cells” and “lump of tissue.”
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For 13 years, Felicia Cash and he husband had struggled to start a
family of their own. They finally made the decision to foster three
sisters, and they adopted the girls two years later. Soon after, they
received the remarkable news that they were expecting their first child.
“[T]he morning after we signed their adoption papers in court, we found out that we were expecting,” Cash
told Live Action News. “Eight months later, our oldest son was born. A few years after that, we were blessed with another.”
Cash and her husband were elated when they discovered they were
pregnant with twins this past spring, but things quickly took a turn for
the worse. She started experiencing “complications” about six weeks
into her term and was forced to go to the hospital with bleeding.
“They did an ultrasound and told us that we had lost one of two, but
that the second baby looked healthy and strong,” she said. “We had other
scares when bleeding started again and again, but were told it was just
due to the first loss and a hematoma beneath the placenta.”
Unfortunately, the doctors were wrong about the second child. Late
last month, Cash woke up to more bleeding, which was followed by pain.
She knew she had to go to the hospital, but before her husband could get
home from work, her water broke, and she delivered her son, Japeth
Peace Cash, in her home.
Holding her tiny baby, who was all of 14 weeks and six days old, Cash
was taken with how developed the young boy was. It was then that she
decided to document her tragic experience on Facebook.
“Our beautiful Japeth Peace, miscarried July 24th at 14 weeks 6 days.
He is perfectly and wonderfully formed, right down to his amazing tiny
toes and fingers,” the post began. “Even his fingernails are formed and
visible. Tiny veins that carried his own blood to his precious body can
be seen through his delicate skin, even his wonderfully formed muscles
are visible.”
Cash went on to explain that her post was meant to show people a
real, tangible example of what a human being looks like in the earliest
stages of life. It is abundantly clear from her photos that, even at
“less than half gestation,” a baby is far more than a “blob of unformed
flesh.”
At less than half gestation he is very obviously
human, not a cluster of cells, not a lump of tissue, not a blob of
unformed flesh. He is a beautiful child, formed by God, and now gone to
be with Him.
I am posting this in hopes of offering information to those who
may not know how completely a child of only 14 weeks gestation is
formed. And therefore not something to be taken lightly.
His tiny heart was beating within 16 days of conception, pumping
his own blood. That is usually before anyone knows that they are
pregnant. There seems to be a misconception that unless you can hear or
see it, it isn’t happening, but that tiny heart is beating, even if it
is too small to hear or see.
As someone who has a beautiful blended family of adopted and
biological children, Cash also pleaded with women contemplating abortion
to consider alternatives.
As a final plea, if you are considering abortion,
please take time to find the truth and reconsider. This is not an effort
to shame, belittle, or condemn anyone in any way. It is the plea of a
woman who just lost her child for you to at least consider other
options.
There are people who are willing to help. I am willing to help.
If you feel you have no one and no place to go, please reach out.
Whether you keep your precious baby or choose the gift of adoption, you
do have options.
Many will say that the foster homes are overflowing already or
that no child should be unwanted. But that does not mean that your child
should be discarded. As an adoptive mother, I want to encourage you
that there are hundreds, thousands of families who would love a child
that did not come from their own bodies, and there are thousands of
families who do. Reach out. There is hope.
If you have made up your mind to choose abortion, no one can stop
you. If you have already chosen abortion, I do not condemn you. And
there are many who are willing to counsel you through your loss and
grief. Again, reach out. There is hope.
“To those who have experienced a similar loss, my heart goes out to
you,” she concluded. “Your love for your lost ones is not in vain. God
is good, even still.”
In speaking with Live Action News, Cash said she has heard from
countless women in the days following her post. Some are remorseful for
their decision to abort babies at around the same age as Japeth, while
others have suffered miscarriages of their own. Ultimately, she believes
God had a plan for her son.
“As miserable as this event has been, and as heart rending and
tearful,” Cash said, “I still thank God that I have been able to share
Japeth’s precious life.”
