Brain-dead woman kept alive to save foetus

A brain-dead woman in Virginia, USA, is being kept on life support in hopes that her 21-week-old feotus survives, and the woman’s husband said he is certain that’s what she would have wanted.

Jason Torres said doctors believe the foetus could have a chance if Susan Torres lives another month and her cancer stays away from her uterus.

He said he decided to keep his wife on life support when doctors offered him the chance to disconnect the machines after concluding she would not recover.

“I hate seeing her on those darned machines, and I hate using her as a carrying case, because she is worth so much more,” Torres said. “But Susan really wanted this baby. And she’s a very – how should I put this? – a wilful lady. That’s probably why she’s made it this far.”

Susan Torres, a 26-year-old researcher, lost consciousness from a stroke on May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain. Jason Torres said doctors told him his wife’s brain functions have stopped.

Torres said the feotus appears to be thriving, but his wife’s doctors have told him they know of no cases in which a brain-dead mother with melanoma has delivered a baby.

If his wife and her feotus live until mid-July, or about 25 weeks’ gestation, the foetus could survive delivery, though with a heightened risk of brain damage and other problems, Torres said. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

“There’s not a glimmer of doubt in my mind that this is what she would have wanted,” Torres said. “Any chance at all to save the baby, and Susan would have said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ “

Torres quit his job as a printing salesman and has moved into his wife’s hospital room. The couple’s two-year-old son, Peter, is staying with grandparents.