Mum’s desperate reader letter: ‘Help – we can’t convince my son’s girlfriend to have an abortion’

This woman’s shocking letter to a newspaper’s agony aunt has sparked uproar online - but what would you advise?

AMDYKF

by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

Writing to The Independent’s agony aunt, Virginia, the woman explained that her son’s on-off girlfriend had fallen pregnant.

Adding that he tried to convince her to have an abortion, the mother insisted that she fears her son’s life will be ruined.

Her letter reads:

*Dear Virginia, *

*Although they broke up after six months, my son and his girlfriend, a single mother, still slept together occasionally. Now she’s pregnant. My son wants her to have an abortion, but she refuses. *

*We dislike her intensely, and she lives three hours from us. Yet we can’t abandon a child who’ll be part of our family. She says my son needn’t have a role in its life, but he feels obliged to take responsibility, even though he’s just starting out, with a new job far away. *

His life will be ruined by one night of stupidity. What can we do?

*Yours sincerely, *

Peter and Barbara

AEHNHK

You can read Virginia’s full response here, but it’s safe to say that the agony aunt advised the woman to get to know the mother of her future grandchild.

“She can’t be totally awful, after all, or your son wouldn’t have gone out with her even for a few months,” she said firmly.

However it was the comments of outraged readers that really caught our eye.

One fumed: “I have zero sympathy with this mother of the adult son, who fathered a baby with his/off girlfriend. Zilch. Nada.

“It was her son's responsibility to protect himself if he did not want a baby! Why blame his girlfriend? He is an adult! He needs to be responsible for the consequences of his actions and be a man!”

Another added: “Her son will end up a spoilt mommy's boy that no real woman wants if she keeps sticking her nose in and interfering.”

What would your advice be to this woman?

Let us know via Facebook or Twitter (@CloserOnline) now.

And make sure to visit the original reader dilemma over at The Independent, where you can leave your own opinion on the letter via the comment box at the bottom of the page.

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