My wife and I had a hard time getting pregnant and she miscarried at ~15 weeks about a year prior to our first son being born.

I can't understand with the amount of people both gay and straight who desperately want children but can't have them why there are so many aborted who could be given to a loving home. I don't know when life begins and if I am going to err its going to be on the side of life.

Convenience, gender selection, eugenics, etc. I find it abhorrent. 90% of all pregnancies with a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome end in abortion. False positives are not uncommon (and why we never bothered with any testing). And I guess I'm not real comfortable with a teen needing parental consent to get a tattoo or piercing but not an abortion. I have a dear friend who had an abortion back in college and the psychological effects (at least for her, maybe some females deal with it differently) were not inconsequential. Rape, incest, health of the mother? I have no issue with, whatsoever.

That said, it's nobody's business except for the one who is pregnant and has a decision to make.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Sorry to hear that, gator. My youngest son was supposed to have a twin sibling. With 3 kids prior and 5.5 years later, that thought still saddens my wife from time to time. I can only imagine how hard it must be for a couple trying.

To your second paragraph, I just add that there is a waiting list for people wanting to adopt children with Down syndrome. So much so that many go out of the country to adopt. I do think it's far easier to say put the kid up for adoption than it is to do it. One of my aunt's did 30 years ago and she's been a little 'off' ever since. Even as a kid I remember noticing a personality change (her pregnancy wasn't a secret from the rest of the family except from us kids).

I'm guessing there's a tremendous emotional burden either way (carrying to term and putting up for adoption or aborting).

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Wondering if any actual women have weighed in here.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

One reason is that pregnancy is not a risk free process, nor an emotion free process so women may not see that option as a simple 50/50 option. But even if a person is on the side of life, I don't think it gives an answer to the question of abortion. There are likely lots of people alive today who would not have come into existence had their mothers not had abortions. Even in your own case, while I'm sure your wife's miscarriage was hard, if she hadn't miscarried, it's probably unlikely that your current first son would have come into existence.
There are also lots of miscarriages that occur without the pregnant woman being aware that she was pregnant to begin with. Even for most people, there were probably lots of attempts to conceive before our own conceptions took place. So in an odd way, each of us owes our existence to our siblings that weren't. That debt will always exist whether their non-existence was deliberately planned or not.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I find myself neither pro-life or pro-choice. I do not like the idea of an abortion as it is ending life, yet I have been at adoption sites and I see countless children in search of a home. Also, I have seen people with children who are unfit to be parents. It is an issue that I do not claim to have an answer for, yet that does not mean that I am unconcerned about it. I just do not know.
And I would add that any politician claiming to have a solution is a damned fool.

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Current:
1985 300D aka Miss Margaret
1991 300SE aka Alarice
1995 SL320 aka Samantha
1997 K1500 Silverado
Past:
1999 E300 ex-wife got it and let her son ruin it
1984 190 2.3 ex-wife got it and let her son destroy a great car
1985 300D (CA version) aka Maybelline lost to deer at high speed.
1981 300D aka Madeline (went to salvage at near 400k) rusty, yet best car I ever drove
Wishlist:
McFarlan TV6 (only a few privately owned)
ReVere with Rochester engine
1917 Premier (only one left)

Do we have any here besides Mistress?

We had Fulcrum's friend here for awhile (whose screen name escapes me right now) but she was eventually chased away.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Are there forums similar to this almost entirely populated by females? If so, what are they? Knitting forums? Quilting forums?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Gee.... I wonder why the girls don't like it here...

drezel was fulcrum's friend. Not sure why she is no longer around. The other members of the female persuasion don't seem to venture into OD.

Where's porche???

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

I don't think my statement was prejudicial, just true. I was at a quilting convention a few weeks ago that had a few hundred women and only 1 man, near as I could tell.

But my curiosity has been raised and I wonder if women congregate on the internet in OD discussions like this on female forums? My wife doesn't do it. Does anyone here know a woman that does? If so, where does she do it? If women don't do it, why do men do it?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

...and he was stuck holding his wife's purse...

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Thanks, B. That would have been eating away at me all day.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

My mom and I were joking around when I was a teenager, and she threatened to abort me. I told her that it's not called abortion at my age, that it was called murder. She stopped, looked me in the eye, and told me to never forget that fact.

It struck a chord in me. I've been pro-life, and thankfully, so was my ex wife. My 3 children mean the world to me.

Sure, I could have talked the ex into aborting the children. She probably would have done it. Without kids, I'd have more money, more freedom to go and do whatever my heart desires without having to think about children. Once I held my oldest on in my arms, I knew then that we had made the right decision.

__________________
1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Are you suggesting that someone who aborts a fetus would not love a child that was born?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Pro-choice: indicates to me someone who is in favor of a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body. It doesn't indicate that a person is necessarily in favor of abortion. Women I know of who've had abortions certainly didn't pick it as a first option.

Pro-life is what confuses me. Whose life? Mothers? Fetus'? As a side note, it seems to me that a lot of pro-life people I know are big time capital punishment proponents. Seems to me, if all life is sacred and has value, the death penalty is as much murder as abortion.

I prefer pro-choice, and anti-choice.

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting