{"id":129004,"date":"2016-10-22T10:23:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T14:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=129004"},"modified":"2016-10-24T15:48:11","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T19:48:11","slug":"miracle-baby-born-twice-after-parents-refused-abort-despite-critical-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/miracle-baby-born-twice-after-parents-refused-abort-despite-critical-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Miracle baby ‘born’ twice after parents refused to abort despite critical diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At 23 weeks along\u00a0in her pregnancy, Margaret Boemer and her husband Jeff were\u00a0faced with\u00a0a crucial decision.\u00a0Their preborn child,\u00a0LynLee Hope, was suffering from a rare disease named sacrococcygeal teratoma. The alarming diagnosis came during a routine ultrasound Margaret had at 16 weeks into her pregnancy.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Texas Children’s Hospital, Margaret shared<\/a>:<\/p>\n

They saw something on the scan, and the doctor came in and told us that there was something seriously wrong with our baby and that she had a sacrococcygeal teratoma…and it was very shocking and scary, because we didn’t know what that long word meant or what diagnosis that would bring.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sacrococcygeal teratoma<\/a> is a condition in which a tumor develops before birth and grows from a preborn child’s tailbone. According<\/a> to Dr. Darrell Cass<\/a>, thoracic surgeon and co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center, sacrococcygeal teratoma occurs in one of of every 35,000 births and is the most common tumor seen in a newborn.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a><\/p>\n

The tumor was causing LynLee’s heart to slow down, and she was in danger of going into cardiac failure. In addition to the pain from processing LynLee’s condition, Margaret and her husband were originally expecting twins. Sadly, LynLee’s sibling was lost before her second trimester. During this heart-wrenching time, some doctors advised Margaret to seek abortion. Yet in spite of all the challenging circumstances, Margaret and her husband refused to give up on LynLee.<\/p>\n

Dr.Darrell Cass gave them hope when he provided a different idea: the option of performing open\u00a0fetal surgery. The surgery would be difficult, and LynLee was given a 50% chance of survival. The tumor was already shutting down her heart, and it was growing by sucking the blood flow from the baby. It was a horrifying competition for survival as both Margaret’s baby and the tumor sought to grow simultaneously.<\/p>\n

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Even with the risk of\u00a0death, Margaret\u00a0and her husband were in agreement<\/a> that\u00a0termination was not an option.\u00a0They told the doctors they wanted to give their daughter life.<\/p>\n