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Miracle Baby Survives, Thrives After Abortion

An English mother’s anger turned to love at first sight when she gave birth to a son who was born a mere three weeks early, even after she’d undergone an abortion during the eighth week of pregnancy.

Jodie Percival, 25, had already had two sons who were both born with multicystic dysplastic kidney, a genetic disease she carries that triggers the growth of kidney cysts in fetuses. Her first son, Thane, lived only 20 minutes after a traumatic premature birth. Lewis, the second son, is thriving at the age of 20 months but he does so on just one kidney.

When Percival and her fiance, Billy Crampton, 35, realized they had a third child on the way, even though Percival was taking birth control pills, they felt the risk of having a healthy baby was just too far against the odds. They decided to abort at eight weeks, thinking it would be easier to terminate the pregnancy than to suffer the heartbreak of losing another child to a genetic defect.

A few weeks after the procedure, fluttering sensations in her stomach led Percival to consult her physician, who ordered a scan of her abdomen. Much to everyone’s surprise, the fluttering was the baby, not aborted but thriving instead during the 19th week of gestation.

Angered by the failed abortion, the couple voiced their concerns in a letter to the hospital that had performed the procedure. They received an apologetic reply and the explanation that, although rare, abortions do fail from time to time.

Prenatal monitoring led Percival’s doctors to believe the child’s chances of survival were good and they convinced the Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, couple that the baby deserved a chance to live.

This past November, Finley was born. Weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces, Finley was just three weeks premature. Although there is minor damage to one of his kidneys, his doctors expect him to enjoy a very normal life. There’s the possibility he will need kidney surgery at some point in the future but only one kidney is affected by the disease.

Percival expresses amazement that Finley was able to survive the struggles of his gestation and the genetic disease, too. Saying he looks perfect, the proud mother says she’s so happy he’s here that she wouldn’t change that for the world.

Source: Daily Mail UK

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