In Brazil, they are supporting the life of a pregnant woman with a dead brain (9 photos)

A Brazilian family's ordeal has caused a stir: A 21-year-old brain-dead woman is on life support so her unborn 6-month-old baby has a chance to survive.





"It's horrible," said one local netizen. "She has to endure violence just to have a child who will never remember her."

"I'm sure if the mother were alive, this is what she would want!" countered another.

"I don't understand why people are upset. It's a sad situation, but we're talking about saving a life. Ask any parent what they would do and the answer will be unanimous," wrote a third.



Joyce Souza Araujo, 21, collapsed with severe headaches and was hospitalized in Rondonopolis. Doctors discovered an aneurysm, but it was too late.





Her husband, 23-year-old Joan Mateus Silva, spoke of the tragedy that befell their family. Two daughters, aged three and seven, were left without a mother, and their brother's life was in danger.

"When she became pregnant, she started to experience severe headaches, but there was no indication that she had an aneurysm. We never imagined that this would happen," the man said.

On December 20, Joyce's condition suddenly worsened. Surgeons performed an operation, but their efforts were unsuccessful. A few days later, she was diagnosed as brain dead.



Despite the mother's condition, doctors decided to continue artificial life support due to her gestational age. The boy is planned to be born as soon as he reaches seven months of gestational age.



Joyce's story echoes other cases that have occurred around the world. Pregnant women who were declared dead were given life extension treatment to save their unborn children.

A striking example is the case of Catarina Sequeira, who was on life support until her baby was born at 31 weeks.

Sequeira, 26, was a Portuguese canoe champion. In December 2018, the athlete suffered an asthma attack at 19 weeks of pregnancy and was declared brain dead a few days later. She was kept alive for 56 days so that her fetus could survive.



In 2020, a thorough study at the University of Cambridge looked at the complex legal and ethical implications of keeping a mother alive to save her unborn child.

"In some highly publicized cases, doctors have made the decision to continue physiological support for the mother after she has been declared brain dead, despite the clear reluctance of the patient's family."



In a German study of 30 such cases, only 63% resulted in a live birth.

There are also legal considerations. In 2016, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled that abortion is not a crime in the first three months of pregnancy. If the pregnancy is more than 12 weeks old, the procedure can only be performed in cases of rape of the mother, to save her life, or in cases of fetal anencephaly.



Joyce's baby is six months old, meaning doctors are obliged to keep him alive. The woman's family has also expressed a desire to save the baby.

"The worst thing is knowing that the children will grow up without a mother," the father said.