AI Summary
5 min read23 Weeks 6 Days
In 2012, Tampa Bay Times reporter Kelly Benham published an article about a decision she and her husband Tom French had to make—whether to let their extremely premature daughter live or die. The baby arrived at 23 weeks and 6 days, one day shy of the 24-week mark that medicine has long considered the threshold of viability. What followed was not a simple story of survival, but an exploration of what it means to decide for someone who cannot decide for themselves, and how a baby barely past the boundary of life can somehow declare its own will to stay.
The Line at 24 Weeks
The 24-week threshold has its roots in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Law professor Nita Farahany explains that the Supreme Court needed a line where the state's interest in protecting the unborn child could override a woman's right to choose. They settled on "viability"—the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb. Based on what was then known about fetal development, the court settled on 24 weeks, when air sacs form in the lungs.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:26) **Kelly Benham's story begins** - Reporter Kelly Benham introduces her journey to become a mother, describing her long-held vision of a feisty, mischievous daughter.
- 2 (06:20) **The struggle to conceive** - After reconciling, Kelly and Tom face years of failed fertility treatments before a successful egg donor IVF.
- 3 (08:16) **A sudden crisis at 20 weeks** - Five months into the pregnancy, Kelly experiences severe bleeding and is rushed to the hospital, fearing a miscarriage.
- 4 (10:29) **The baby's heartbeat survives** - An ultrasound reveals the baby is alive, shifting the crisis from saving Kelly to saving the baby.
- 5 (11:42) **The legal and medical history of viability** - The episode explains why 24 weeks became the legal and medical line for fetal viability, starting with Roe v. Wade.
- 6 (15:59) **The impossible decision at 23 weeks** - Kelly goes into labor at 23 weeks and 4 days, forcing her and Tom to decide whether to pursue life-saving measures for their baby.
- 7 (18:09) **The agonizing night of deliberation** - Kelly and Tom struggle through a sleepless night, weighing the baby's potential suffering against their own desires.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible to answer.
This hour, which we first released in 2013, we spend the entire episode on the story of Kelley and Tom, whose daughter was born at 23 weeks and 6 days, roughly halfway to full term. Their story contains an entire universe of questions about the lines between life and death, reflex and will, and the confusing tug of war between two basic moral touchstones: doing no harm...and doing everything in our power to help. Kelley has written about her experience in a brilliant series of articles in the Tampa Bay Times.
If you want to know more about what we talk about in the update tacked onto the end of this episode, check out the links below:
Check out the book that Tom and Kelley wrote about Juniper here:
And when you're done listening to the episode, be sure to check out the video below--but be warned, it does contain spoilers.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by Jad Abumrad
Produced by Matt Kielty and Jad Abumrad
Update produced by Pat Walters and Anisa Vietze
with mixing help from Jeremy Bloom
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