What should the management of incest pregnancies be? An ethical view presented via three cases.
Incest is a taboo and a neglected social problem. Especially in the adolescent population, which is a very sensitive period of development, it becomes harder for the patients to share their secret with either legal or health authorities. Sometimes pregnancy becomes the only vehicle to uncover this secret. There is a contradiction whether their pregnancies should continue or not. Some authors believe abortion is the best choice for the victim to pull herself together, whereas others advocate that it is just another trauma that will not solve the problem but merely hide it. In this report, three paternal incest cases and their pregnancies will be presented. The aim is not only to discuss the different points of view regarding the management of these pregnancies but also to make the clinicians think about the different choices before making a decision.
Yuksel
B
B
Department of Adolescence, Dr Zekai Tahir Burak Women's Health and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. berilyuksel@gmail.com
Kilic
S
S
Akin Su
F
F
Tasdemir
N
N
Uzunlar
O
O
Mollamahmutoglu
L
L
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000941:ethics; D000293:Adolescent; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007179:Incest / Q000941:ethics*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000941:ethics*; D011902:Rape; D013609:Taboo; D014421:Turkey