A young man from Germany who – as an unborn baby – survived an abortion attempt in 1997 has died, aged 21.
Medics assumed that Tim Guido would not survive premature labour and that the usual lethal drug injection would be unnecessary.
His adoptive family say that his 21 years were “full of life”.
Left to die
In Germany, abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy are forbidden unless the mother’s health is at risk, or the baby is diagnosed with serious illness or disability.
When Tim’s mother found out at 20 weeks that her child had Down’s syndrome, she threatened to kill herself, and a late-term abortion was scheduled.
Tim was born alive, weighing just 1lb 8oz pounds. Doctors left him alone in a room to die.
Only when they returned nine hours later to discover a living, breathing child, did they decide to give him medical care.
‘Unique’
Bernhard and Simone Guido, who adopted Tim, said it was ‘love at first sight’ when they laid eyes on him in 1997: “We immediately thought: he belongs with us.”
As well as Tim and their own two children, Bernhard and Simone went on to foster two other children with Down’s syndrome. They campaign against late-term abortions and pre-natal disability screenings in Germany.
Tim died on 4 January after contracting a lung infection.
His family said: “We are very sad and don’t yet know how we should come to terms with the loss of our son who was unique, full of life and spread joy.”
