Texas YouTuber Forced To Carry Miscarriage For Weeks
She shares her experience in light of Roe v. Wade.
YouTuber Marlena Stell was forced to carry her miscarriage. She shared her experience with CNN after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Stell is a beauty YouTuber and owns the makeup brand Makeup Geek.
Stell was told that she had to carry her dead fetus for two weeks due to an anti-abortion law in Texas. Her doctor refused to provide medical intervention. In a video posted to her YouTube channel last year, Stell went into detail on her experience.
An ultrasound in the first seven weeks of her pregnancy showed everything to be normal. Unfortunately, two weeks later, it was revealed that Stell had miscarried.
“[The doctor] said there is no heartbeat. There is no viable pregnancy," said Stell.
She then asked her doctor for a dilation and curettage procedure (D&C). A D&C is a surgical procedure that would remove the fetus. It is the same process for abortions and is utilized to avoid infection or other medical complications.
"The doctor said, 'Because of the new law that's passed here, you have to schedule another ultrasound to verify that this pregnancy is not valid before we can give you any sort of medical intervention,'” continued Stell.
"She can develop an infection that can make her sterile and never able to have children again," said OB/GYN Dr. Lillian Schapiro.
Schapiro spoke with CNN to discuss the impact of a dead fetus on Stell. Schapiro explained that the death of the fetus could cause organ failure due to the dead tissue entering the parent’s bloodstream.
"It's gut-wrenching… cause you already know what you're going to see. It's just like, seeing it twice, being told that you're not going to be a mom," Stell said to CNN. "Just emotionally carrying it around and just knowing that there's nothing you could do. It just feels very ... it's like I can't grieve or move past it because I'm just walking around carrying it."
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