# If you were kidnapped, kept prisoner for years, raped, and impregnated...what would you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899 "2010-10-12T18:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/21 "2010-10-14T04:53:17Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Was this really necessary? I haven’t seen this movie yet. ☹ Sorry. The book was written in 1987…I figured 23 years was long enough that it had entered the public consciousness re: spoilers. Or that it was something that most people knew about even if they hadn’t read it for themselves…like even if you haven’t seen the Shining, you know about bloody elevators. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/22 "2010-10-14T05:06:37Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > like even if you haven’t seen the Shining, you know about bloody elevators. Dammit, woman! When will this rampage stop?! :mad: To answer the question: I’d raise the kid. I can’t see myself smothering my own child unless it was a _very_ extreme case, and honestly I’m really only saying that because I feel like you can never be 100% sure about anything. I can think of no hypothetical circumstance in which I would smother my own child. Including this one. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/23 "2010-10-14T05:15:12Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Dammit, woman! When will this rampage stop?! :mad: Rosebud was a sled! It was earth all along! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/24 "2010-10-14T05:15:30Z")
Hard to imagine what I’d do in a situation like that (especially being a man) but I’d like to think I’d see the child as a fellow victim and treat it accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![SevenOfTeemingMillions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@SevenOfTeemingMillions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SevenOfTeemingMillions)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/25 "2010-10-14T06:38:25Z")
I would call my agent and sell my story. 😃 Tabloids still pay for pregnant guy stories, right? Seriously, though, if I were a woman in that situation I would keep the baby. If I’m not in a good situation for raising a kid (maybe I can’t give the kid a proper home because I’m in prison for life or I have terminal cancer and will die within the year), I would put the baby up for adoption. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/26 "2010-10-14T07:01:19Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > > Dammit, woman! When will this rampage stop?! :mad: > > Rosebud was a sled! It was earth all along! 😃 The policeman did it! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/27 "2010-10-14T07:33:49Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > Rosebud was a sled! It was earth all along! 😃 > > The policeman did it! Bruce Willis is Luke’s father! ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/28 "2010-10-14T12:48:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > > Dammit, woman! When will this rampage stop?! :mad: > > Rosebud was a sled! It was earth all along! 😃 SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!! 😃 No worries, **FS**. I didn’t know the book was that old. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/29 "2010-10-14T14:54:23Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > > > Was this really necessary? I haven’t seen this movie yet. ☹ > > Sorry. The book was written in 1987…I figured 23 years was long enough that it had entered the public consciousness re: spoilers. Or that it was something that most people knew about even if they hadn’t read it for themselves…like even if you haven’t seen the Shining, you know about bloody elevators. Yeech! Part of the reason I don’t watch movies like the Shining is that I’d rather not know about bloody elevators or anything resembling them! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Redpill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Redpill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redpill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/30 "2010-10-14T15:39:44Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > > > Would you smother it _Beloved_ style? > > Was this really necessary? I haven’t seen this movie yet. ☹ I think she meant smother with love, you have to see the movie to find out. PS: Bruce Willis is one of dead people the kid sees. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/31 "2010-10-14T15:40:58Z")
Suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Redpill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Redpill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redpill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/32 "2010-10-14T15:45:32Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I can think of no hypothetical circumstance in which I would smother my own child. Including this one. Yeah, I think living with killing my own child would be a worse torture than what they could ever do to me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/33 "2010-10-14T16:09:32Z")
How could I ever kill my own child? And I am adamantly against having children…but I could never murder a baby in my arms. I think it would only drive me more to find a way to escape or to kill my tormenter, provided as someone else said Stockholm Syndrome had not set in. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/34 "2010-10-14T16:27:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > But “every time I’d look at the baby I’d remember what its father did to it last night”, on the other hand? So wait, you’re not willing to kill yourself in this situation, but you’re OK with making the judgment call that your baby doesn’t want to live? Scratch that- I assume the kid will be at least a toddler before daddy starts raping it- you’re OK with judging that your toddler doesn’t want to live anymore? Just so I’m sure I’ve got this straight, you’re cool with staying alive under these conditions but you’re sure your kid won’t be…do I have that right? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/35 "2010-10-14T16:53:51Z")
I think I’d try to kill myself upon realizing I was pregnant, but I don’t think I could kill the kid once it was born. Really, though, this scenario is so, so far from anything I’ve ever experienced, I just don’t know how I’d react. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/36 "2010-10-14T17:56:43Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > [@Zsofia](#): > > > > But “every time I’d look at the baby I’d remember what its father did to it last night”, on the other hand? > > So wait, you’re not willing to kill yourself in this situation, but you’re OK with making the judgment call that your baby doesn’t want to live? Scratch that- I assume the kid will be at least a toddler before daddy starts raping it- you’re OK with judging that your toddler doesn’t want to live anymore? > > Just so I’m sure I’ve got this straight, you’re cool with staying alive under these conditions but you’re sure your kid won’t be…do I have that right? I didn’t say I’d definitely do it, but I’m saying I wouldn’t take it off the table, no. Women in concentration camps smothered their babies so the Nazis wouldn’t do worse. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/37 "2010-10-14T18:00:25Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > So wait, you’re not willing to kill yourself in this situation, but you’re OK with making the judgment call that your baby doesn’t want to live? Scratch that- I assume the kid will be at least a toddler before daddy starts raping it- you’re OK with judging that your toddler doesn’t want to live anymore? > > Just so I’m sure I’ve got this straight, you’re cool with staying alive under these conditions but you’re sure your kid won’t be…do I have that right? It does make sense. It’s a lot easier to smother a baby than to kill yourself. ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/38 "2010-10-14T19:23:05Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It does make sense. It’s a lot easier to smother a baby than to kill yourself. No it isn’t. Unless you mean it’s physically easier to smother a baby than say, hang yourself with a sheet. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/39 "2010-10-14T20:38:20Z")
I meant physically. You can just smother it till it dies. You can’t just smother yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899/40 "2010-10-14T20:51:16Z")
What would you do? Probably get yourself your own TV show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-kidnapped-kept-prisoner-for-years-raped-and-impregnated-what-would-you-do/556899.md?page=3)