I have been pregnant twice, and one of the most disorienting things about the experience,

both times, was how being pregnant seemed to change the people around me.

Like, when I went to the doctor, I was the person in the waiting room, the person getting my blood drawn. But the patient, that wasn't me. That was my unborn kid.

Sometimes, like during an ultrasound, this shift felt benign. Other times, not so much. Like when I went into labor

and wanted to avoid taking a drug to speed things up. I was told if I didn't hurry,

my baby could end up in intensive care. This was not true, but it reflected this idea, the idea that my point of view was

secondary, the idea that I was at best a vehicle for my baby. And in this vehicle, I was definitely

not the driver.

I've been thinking about that feeling over the past week or so because of this story unfolding in Atlanta.

It's about a pregnant woman and who has control over her body.

The woman's name is Adriana Smith.

Tonight, a Metro Atlanta mother lies brain dead in a hospital room being kept alive only because she's pregnant.

Adriana Smith was this 30-year-old black nurse from the Metro Atlanta area.

She has one child who's seven years old.

And in February, she began experiencing these severe headaches.

Imani Gandhi has been reporting on Adriana's story for Rewire News Group.

So she went to a hospital, and they just sent her home with some medication.

So then the next morning, her boyfriend heard her sort of gasping for air, and she was rushed to the hospital,

and doctors discovered that she had multiple blood clots in her brain. And she was rushed to the hospital and doctors discovered

that she had multiple blood clots in her brain.

And so at first they thought

they were going to be able to operate,

...