8mm
Posted on 11/17/2007 11:11:08 AM PST by wagglebee
OXFORD, November 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)--A Russian couple who fled their homeland when doctors insisted on aborting at least two of their unborn quintuplets have seen all of their children delivered safely in an Oxford hospital.
The procedure required a team of 18 doctors Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital working in teams of five, each delivering a baby and then rotating to the next team.
The couple, Dimitri and Vavara Artamkin, decided to come to Britain when doctors repeatedly refused to handle the quintuplets' delivery unless the couple agreed to abort at least two of their unborn children. They are Russian Orthodox and reject abortion as immoral.
"Our families are very religious people - Varvara's father is an archpriest - and the church teaches that abortion is murder. Varvara and Dimitri wanted all their babies and they would not agree to such a condition," Dimitri Artamkin's grandmother told Britian's Daily Mail.
The couple had connections in Britain through Vavara's father, but were unable to travel there until they received a generous contribution from a group of Russian benefactors who have remained anonymous. The donors will pay for the care of the children and their parents until they return to Russia.
The babies, who were born 14 weeks premature and weigh roughly one to two pounds, face serious risks, but are receiving intensive care at multiple hospitals.
"For me, that they were born alive was a miracle. It was all in God's hands and I was elated. We will go to church and light a candle for each baby," said Dimitri's sister Maria.
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Given the current climate in Britain, I am surprised they welcomed them into their county for this purpose. Prayers up for the little ones.
This might help explain it. Always helps to have "connections" in a government. Not only that they were in private health care, it seems like, due to the donations of fellow Russians.
The Duke of Wellington was born in Dublin to an old Anglo-Norman family of Ireland. I read somewhere that when someone called him Irish, he objected, making the analogy that being born in a barn wouldn't have made him a horse.
Another aspect of socialized medicine - immigrants get prompter care than actual citizens.
1-2 lbs each at 14 weeks early and there’s 5 of ‘em?!!! That’s HUGE for that gestational age/amount of babies. Good for them.
. . . they received a generous contribution from a group of Russian benefactors who have remained anonymous. The donors will pay for the care of the children and their parents until they return to Russia.
I think immigrants who pay cash for their services get pushed to the front of the line.
?
Awww. This is wonderful news! I will say a prayer for the babies and the parents. They are all going to need it! Wow. To have such a big family all at once! It’s taking me years and I’m still not caught up! LOL!
I was thinking the same thing.
So do Brits
If this had been a British citizen and there was a chance of delivering all four babies safely they would have received the similar treatment under the NHS. Baby and childcare always take precedence in Britain ops are even canceled if a baby needs an operating theatre.
Actually despite what you might believe we consider our neonatal treatment in the UK as being one of the best in the world.
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