A mum who was repeatedly told to have an abortion by her doctors ignored their advice and has given birth to a happy healthy girl.
Nursery assistant, Katie White, 24, from St Louis, Missouri in the United States, had a normal pregnancy until doctors discovered that her unborn daughter had hydrocephalus, a condition in which there is a build-up of fluid in the brain, at her 20-week scan. Her doctors told her she should have an abortion because of her child’s disability.
In an interview with the Irish Sun, Katie said “I was distraught and bawling my eyes out”.
“[The doctors] immediately tried to get me in contact with [an abortionist] to terminate the pregnancy”.
“I needed to go home and think. I couldn’t make such a huge decision off the back of one doctor’s advice and I thank my lucky stars that I did”.
“My daughter would not be here today if I had taken that advice”.
Katie managed to find another doctor who had a child with a disability and “knew [that Katie] couldn’t just give up on [her] daughter”.
“From then on, I had to go to the hospital every other week to make sure that me and baby were okay”, Katie said.
Even after her 30-week scan, doctors recommended she have an abortion.
After a follow-up scan at 30 weeks, though, Katie was told again by her other doctors that she should have an abortion.
She adds “It was overwhelming. I was scanned again in a room full of unfamiliar faces – it was awful”.
Then after protecting her baby, Katie gave birth by an emergency Cesarean section in May of 2021. Her daughter, Kensley, weighed 6lbs and 7oz.
The drama was not over yet, though, as after five minutes, her baby was taken away to the children’s hospital. Doctors had to drain some fluid from her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain.
Baby Kensley has exceeded all expectations
After initially refusing to have a shunt fitted, which controls the excess fluid, an MRI revealed that this was Kensley’s only option.
When they put in the shunt, her mother, Katie said “It felt like the end of the world to me”.
“I was petrified. I was scared to see her after the surgery for the first time and I completely lost it”.
“She was wrapped up in blankets and looked so sweet, comfortable, and happy”.
“She was a completely different child and I felt so bad that she could have had the shunt fitted sooner – but I did what I thought was best at the time”.
Since then, Kensley has exceeded all expectations. “She hasn’t ever had a seizure, she eats by mouth and can see”, her mum said.
“She absolutely loves food and eats like a horse”.
At 18 months old now, approaching her second Christmas, all signs point to Kensley being a healthy and happy baby.
In the UK, if an unborn baby is thought to have a disability, abortion is legal up until birth.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “It’s wonderful to see a mother so brave in the face of extremely bad medical advice. The fact that her doctors recommended abortion because her daughter had a disability is extremely worrying. In this case, as in all others, abortion is not treatment because babies are not a disease.”
