I WAS overjoyed when I read a pledge by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan recently in the Health Ministry's website that every newborn baby will have insurance coverage at birth.

I am pregnant and my unborn child has been diagnosed with a congenital anomaly.

I was overjoyed when I read the pledge because private insurers will not cover my baby upon birth.

But when I called the ministry's hotline to find out about the coverage, I was told that MediShield won't cover my newborn either.

The advice I was given was that parents should weigh carefully their available resources if they wished to have a baby, which, in my case, suggests that I should abort my child.

Certainly, as responsible adults and parents, my husband and I would have considered abortion if my pregnancy is not a medically viable one. But my doctor has assured me that mine is.

That leaves us in an extremely difficult position: discontinue my pregnancy as the ministry's hotline staff member's advice seems to suggest, or proceed and be saddled with a lifetime of debts.

If MediShield is non-profit and the ministry pledges to insure all newborn Singaporeans, shouldn't the ones that need it the most be included as well so that it will help ease our financial burden?

Rene Neo (Ms)

This letter was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 12, 2008.