Husband Praises Wife Who Decided to Carry Their Terminally Ill Baby To Full Term To Donate Her Organs

A mother has been praised after carrying her terminally ill unborn baby to term so she can donate her organs.

Keri Young, from Oklahoma in the US, and her husband, Royce Young were so excited when they learned they were expecting a second child, but the joy was short-lived when at just 20 weeks, they learned that their baby girl had anencephaly — a birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull — and was terminal.

Despite being told that their baby girl, whom they named Eva, would not survive, Keri decided to continue to carry Eva to full term, so that her organs could be donated to save other people.

She then shared the news on Facebook, along with her latest ultrasound picture. She wrote:

“She has perfect feet and perfect hands. She has perfect kidneys, perfect lungs and a perfect liver. Sadly, she doesn’t have a perfect brain. We found out recently she has anencephaly and is terminal.”

She then explained in December that it was not an easy decision.

“For the next 20 weeks I will feel her kick, [I’ll] have the hiccups, and we’ll be able to hear her perfect heart beating all while knowing we’ll only get a few short hours with her when she’s born,” she wrote.

After getting tons of support from people, Keri shared more thoughts on the matter. She explained that she was pro-life at all stages of pregnancy, and remained so in the face of her current ordeal.

At a follow-up meeting with Keri’s doctor, they learned they’d be able to donate their unborn daughter’s heart valves, kidneys, liver, and maybe pancreas if she was carried to turn. Her lungs could be donated to research.

Last week, Keri’s husband, Royce took to Facebook to praise his wife for her bravery and selflessness.

“The other night, I was watching my beautiful wife sleep peacefully on the couch. I looked at her laying there, her belly big with our daughter kicking away, a daughter that won’t live more than a few days, and it just overwhelmed me of how incredible this woman is,” he wrote.

He then said that it was Keri’s determination to donate Eva’s organs that lifted him up, and it was like ‘watching a superhero find her superpowers’.

“In literally the worst moment of her life, finding out her baby was going to die, it took her less than a minute to think of someone else and how her selflessness could help. It’s one of the most powerful things I’ve ever experienced,” he wrote.

He also said how much he admired her for dealing with everything both emotionally and physically.

‘We’re getting closer to the finish line, and while it’s going to be amazing to run through that tape and meet Eva, it comes at a cost. We’ll go to the hospital for a birth, and go home without a baby.

“A lot of people say things like, ‘I wouldn’t change anything’ after a trying circumstance, but I’m not about to say that. I would definitely change this if I could.

“I want my daughter to be perfect. I want her to blow out her candles on her first birthday. I want to watch her bang her head on our coffee table trying to learn to walk. I want her to run up a cell phone bill texting boys. I want to walk her down an aisle. I want to change it all so, so badly. But I can’t. This is our reality. And there’s no stopping it,” he wrote.

His post was shared more than 4,500 times and had over 12,000 reactions.

The Love What Matters Facebook Page also shared his post and has now gained more than 74,000 reactions and over 17,000 shares.

Sources: Dailymail.co.uk and News.com.au