The Murder of Mads Mason Trueblood (The Justine Alpert story)

Actress Justene Alpert (known for her roles in The Lincoln Lawyer, 9-1-1, and Bosch has recently made headlines after announcing that she and her husband, Mason, chose to terminate the pregnancy of their first child.

In a letter she posted to Instagram, Justene explains that in December 2025 she and Mason were given the worst possible news imaginable. Their unborn child had a rare genetic disease, and he would not make it to full term.

Justene’s genetic specialist warned her of the fate she may endure if she did carry the baby full term; she was high risk. The specialist also told Justene and her husband that it was highly recommended that they terminate the pregnancy, and if they took the doctor’s advice, then they would have to do it quickly.

Terminate is a kinder word for the real word here, which is kill. The doctors suggested that Justene, a new mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, and a beloved child of God, KILL her unborn child because of a rare genetic disease.

I have a rare genetic disease.

Ultrasounds told doctors and my parents that there was something wrong; they just didn’t know what.

Yet, my parents chose to keep me.

My parents chose life FOR me, not FOR them.

Whether I lived for a minute after my birth, my parents STILL would have chosen life.

This story, this news headline, this letter that Justene Alpert wrote sickened me, because as a person who was given the chance to live no matter the odds against me, I know that every child deserves that chance.

No child should have that choice taken away from them. Let alone by their own parents. A mother’s womb is supposed to be the first safe place a child should know; it shouldn’t be safe until the mother decides to end her own child’s life.

This precious baby boy got his life ripped away because of a diagnosis.

The most sickening part?

Justene and Mason spent time with this thought; they, in Justene’s words, ‘tried to savor Christmas and Christmas Eve’ and ‘took long walks on the beach as a family of 4.’ And the day they went into the hospital to end their child’s life, she recounts as ‘On December 29th we HAD to say goodbye to our son.’

They pretended to love their son all the while holding the knife in their own hands.

They pretended that there was no choice.

The choice is to leave the timing up to God, to leave the future up to God.

Doctors get things wrong. Doctors misdiagnose (I am living proof of that). Doctors don’t know the future – they can only offer their predictions from what they learn in school and through life. They can never know with certainty whether a baby with any kind of medical diagnosis will survive or what that child’s life will ultimately become.

I was misdiagnosed at birth with Cerebral Palsy when I really had Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy Type One. Living with Myotonic Dystrophy has not been easy, with countless doctor appointments, physical and mental challenges, and uncertainty. Yet, I am happy and grateful every single day that my parents chose life for me, even when they didn’t know what the future would hold.

The only one who knows the future? God.

The only one that should have a say in life and death? God.

During Post OP, Justene wrote that she repeated the words, “She is clothed in dignity and strength”.

There is nothing dignified or strong about a mother killing her child.

Deep down, I think that they knew the gravity of what they were doing, and now, they have to live with the heartbreak of that every day.

So, to Justene, whose parents chose life,

To Mason, whose parents chose life,

To the doctors who urged Justene and Mason to murder their own baby,

To the people commenting on her post praising her for bravery and courage, as they sit, alive…...,

There is a huge difference between your story and Baby Mads.

You are alive.

He isn’t.

And to Baby Mads, I am so so sorry that you were not protected by the two people in your life who should have fought like heck to protect your tiny, innocent life. I am so so sorry that the doctors treated you as a mere diagnosis. I am so so sorry that you were not fought for on the battlefield of that doctor’s office by the person who signed the post of your death ‘XO, Mom.’ I am so so sorry that the two people who were your parents commemorated your killing by taking a picture of them holding hands at the hospital and then later posting it on the internet.

I hope that every parent out there facing a grim prognosis, struggling with heartbreaking news, or facing devastation of a diagnosis remembers that a diagnosis does not determine a person’s worth.

Signed,

A Girl with a Rare Genetic Disease