BRISBANE, Australia — A mother from Australia is expressing her thankfulness after refusing advice to abort her son, who was born with his intestines outside of his body.
Holly Hodgson of Brisbane was informed during her 12-week scan that her son had gastroschisis.
“The radiologist said it would be fine, but then when I went to see my doctor he told me that I should terminate because he had only seen three other cases who all terminated,” she told the outlet Kidspot.
But Hodgson decided to research the condition and determined that she wanted a second opinion. She found that at least 90 percent of babies with the condition survive, and there were no stories of aborting children with gastroschisis either.
“It makes me sick and angry when I look back on what he said,” she said. “It was a silly thing to have said.”
The next doctor Hodgson visited didn’t mention abortion, but only stated that the child would need to be monitored closely.
Last December, her son, who she named Teddy, was born prematurely at 4lbs, 3oz. with his large and small intestines protruding outside his body. His intestines were placed inside of a silo bag until his abdomen was big enough to insert his organs inside.
Weeks later, Teddy successfully underwent the operation, and Hodgson was finally able to hold her son.
“It was almost scary because he was still so little,” she recalled. “It was like holding a little doll.”
Weeks later, Teddy was cleared to go home.
“He’s such a happy boy,” Hodgson says. “He just loves making faces and talking to people. He always smiles, giggles and squeaks at people he doesn’t even know.”
In June, Hodgson decided to send her doctor a photo of Teddy to show that he had been proved wrong.
“He just responded with ‘Congratulations. I’m glad all went [well].’ He didn’t say sorry or that he would take it on board for next time,” she explained.
As previously reported, another mother who had been advised to abort, Lisa Smiley, is now speaking out for life as her son Zeke overcame the odds after being diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.
“While our throwaway culture may come to other conclusions, my experience with Zeke has made me more pro-life than ever before,” Smiley wrote in a post for Live Action News last November. “I have become more impassioned to speak for children who are deemed imperfect, so unwanted by our society that we would want to snuff out their lives before they have even had the chance to be born.”
“As the intrinsic right to life extends to me, it should rightly extend to Zeke and all children—no matter what the circumstance,” she continued. “It is not about me, it is about my child’s life. As a mother, at the very least, I can give him the chance at life that everyone should receive—no matter how long, how hard, how joyful, how fulfilling, or happy it turns out to be.”
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