Strong Reaction After Pregnant Teen with Zika Creates GoFundMe for New Baby's Care

DANBURY, CT — A pregnant Danbury 17-year-old who has been diagnosed with the Zika virus has created a fundraising page to help with her medical costs and is getting severe criticism for it.

Patch reached out to Sara Mujica last week and she told us that she got Zika when she was bitten by a mosquito while in Honduras last February. Upon returning to the U.S. from Honduras, she went to Danbury Hospital where she was diagnosed after getting a fever and a rash.

Mujica is now 12 weeks pregnant. While the virus has relatively mild effects for mothers, her baby is at risk for serious brain damage and other problems.

Health workers do not know the rate at which pregnant women who have the Zika virus pass it their children at birth, and often doctors cannot determine until birth whether babies of mothers with Zika are healthy.

Mujica and her fiancée, Victor Cruz, 19, have decided to keep the baby and are trying to raise funds for the baby's health care; however, some cyber critics' attacks have been running rampant on her GoFundMe page.

A note of caution, some of the comments are very graphic on both sides of the issue.

Lilith Jade said: "You're being selfish and opportunistic. You should abort the fetus before it becomes another burden on society. Also if you're fine with premarital sex then you can't use religion as an excuse not to abort."

Beth O'Connor: "Young lady, please stop with the selective Catholicism."

Diane Pressly: "You are a selfish attention whore. Shame on you. If you were a real mom and loved your child at all, you wouldn't put an innocent life through what's ahead. Begging people for money to pay for your poor choices just makes a bad situation worse. So sad."

Meagan Byrne Elliott: "You are a ridiculously selfish person. You are making horrible decisions and now you want other people to fund it! How dare you! Make the right choice and give the baby up for adoption!"

While there were many comments blasting her, several others were supportive:

Brittany Smith wrote, "Every baby is a miracle keep up the positive attitude. Ignore all the hateful comments because no one is perfect. I wish nothing but the best for you and your little family."

Erica Lee Guillama "Wow, some of you are ruthless! How dare you tell her she's selfish for choosing not to kill her innocent baby! If you don't agree with her decision then why even bother commenting? MOVE ON & GET A LIFE!! Sara, I wish you and your family the best! ❤❤"

Lynda Symington "I agree! You are an amazing person!! Don't listen to any of these horrible comments people are making. God gave you that baby for a reason! It is a miracle baby. Praying for you and for a healthy baby!

Mujica told Patch last week via Facebook that it is difficult what she has been going through being so young and pregnant and then to get this diagnosis on top of it.

"Being young and pregnant is one thing, but now I am.... going through the worst time ever with the news about me having Zika. I have decided to keep my baby, because it's what God has given to me and I am taking full responsibility of my actions," she wrote on her page.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health authorities in Brazil have observed an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome which coincided with Zika virus infections in the general public. They have also seen an increase in babies born with microcephaly, a rare neurological condition in which an infant's head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age.

The WHO said, "Substantial new research has strengthened the association between Zika infection and the occurrence of fetal malformations and neurological disorders. However, more investigation is needed to better understand the relationship. Other potential causes are also being investigated."

Click here for more information and ways to prevent the spread of Zika.

Click here for the GoFundMe page.

Photo: Sara Mujica Facebook