Doctors essentially gave her a death sentence.
They said there was no way she would make it through.
But what happened next stunned everyone.
It was not how they envisioned it, but this family is a living example of how we as a culture should respond to difficulties and cherish life as a gift from God.
Brittany and her husband Alec, a Save the Storks staff member, discovered that their unborn daughter was not developing properly in the womb and were referred to a specialist to confirm the condition.
Save the Storks is a non-profit organization that seeks to assist women with unplanned pregnancies.
The specialist discovered that their baby had fluid surrounding her head and, according to Brittany, “they wanted us to decide if we would continue the pregnancy or not.”
The couple switched doctors and learned that their baby had a rare condition called Turner’s Syndrome, meaning their daughter was missing an entire chromosome.
Their daughter was given a 1 percent chance of surviving outside the womb.
Six weeks from her due date, Brittany was diagnosed with preeclampsia and was rushed in for an emergency C-section, in which she gave birth to her baby girl, Penny.
Penny survived birth and is still alive today.
Though her life is still filled with challenges as a result of her medical condition, the amount of joy that Penny has brought her family is immeasurable.
Yet if Brittany and Alec would have taken the advice of their first doctors and specialists, Penny wouldn’t be here.
It is the job of doctors to diagnose and make suggestions for treatments and to help guide patients through difficult decisions, no doubt.
But when it comes to deciding whether or not to allow a child to live or to kill her because she has a high probability of dying anyway, there ought to be more restraint.
How many pregnancies, and ultimately children’s lives, have been terminated based on a doctor giving a child a small percentage chance of not surviving outside the womb?
Is it for the doctor to decide who gets to live and who is going to have their life ended?
Keep in mind, what is being recommended in these cases is a death sentence for a child that is currently alive in the womb.
We would be led to believe that abortion would have been the rational decision for Brittany and Alec because their daughter Penny was only given a 1 percent chance to live.
Here’s a fact: Doctors are sometimes wrong.
To take a human life based on a probability is immoral, yet there is case after case of doctors recommending or even pressuring patients with difficult pregnancies to just end the lives of their children.
Doctors should be doing all that they can to preserve life up to natural death, even if it means that the child has a 1 percent chance of surviving.
God bless this family for living out their pro-life beliefs.
Pro-Life Press will keep you up-to-date on any new developments to this ongoing story.
