When she awoke on the couch in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, Magon Hoffman’s pajama pants were soaked in blood. What began as light bleeding the night before had turned severe. Hoffman assumed she was miscarrying.
But an ultrasound revealed it was Hoffman’s life that was in danger.
At 14 weeks, the fetus seemed healthy, but Hoffman, 31, had one of the largest blood clots her doctor had ever seen and was at risk of going into shock or organ failure if it continued to grow.
Hoffman’s doctor restricted her physical activity to little more than a temperate walk. She was unable to work, care for her toddler or decorate her Christmas tree. All Hoffman could do was wait and hope the clot resolved itself. Doctors performed weekly ultrasounds to ensure the fetus remained safe.
On Dec. 28, Hoffman went in for her 20-week check up and an anatomy scan, an ultrasound that provides a detailed view of a fetus’ bones, heart, brain, face and other features. And it’s the first chance to detect heart conditions, spinal defects, poor organ development and other abnormalities.
Hoffman’s scan revealed that her unborn daughter was missing a skull and most of her brain. There was zero chance, not even a 0.1% possibility, that the baby would survive, Hoffman remembers her doctor saying. Her daughter would die almost immediately after birth.
Hoffman could attempt to carry the fetus to term risking gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and bleeding. Assuming no other complications arose, Hoffman would spend the next four months in bed or with highly restricted movement, attempt a life-threatening delivery and watch her daughter die. Or, she could terminate the pregnancy, reducing the risks to her own life and spare her unborn daughter pain.
In this episode of Long Story Short, reporter Whitney Bryen explains how Oklahoma’s abortion laws weighed on Hoffman’s already difficult choices.
