British Mother Gives Birth to a Healthy Baby

Doctors had told her to abort.

A British mother has given birth to a baby who doctors said would die in the womb or be severely disabled after birth. Physicians told Deborah G., a 36 year-old woman, that she should have an abortion of her unborn child.

But baby Elijah has surprised doctors after a large, potentially fatal cyst called a cystic hygroma appeared and four weeks after medical scans confirmed their fears that it was growing. Instead of taking her baby’s life, Gudgeon said she turned to prayer.

Thirteen weeks into the pregnancy, doctors told Deborah that Elijah had only a 75 to 90 percent chance of surviving and that, if he lived, the cysts normally cause brain damage or other physical disabilities. After the initial diagnosis, a second scan two weeks later showed the condition worsening for her child, who would be her fifth. "My family was devastated when I was told what was wrong,” she told the British media.

"I researched all the abnormalities suggested and tried to assess if we could live with a child so afflicted, and how it would affect the lives of our other children. I cried constantly and my only peace was when I prayed. I was afraid and confused. But somehow Elijah hung on.” The mother said that when physicians suggested abortion, they told her that most mothers in similar circumstances decided to end their children’s lives. Elijah was born four months ago with a small flap of skin on the back of his neck, but it is reducing as he grows. "I knew it was a miracle,” Deborah concluded. [10July07, London, England LifeNews.com]