Doctors Told Parents to Abort Baby Boy Born With Brain Outside Skull, but He Survived

Illustration - Shutterstock

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW

A shocking discovery in an ultrasound made doctors doubt whether this child would be able to “be human”—but what they didn’t realize was there is always hope even in the darkest of days.

Tembe and Sipho Moyo, from Perth, Australia, were anticipating the birth of their firstborn with great excitement. When Tembe fell pregnant, everything was going smoothly. At 21 weeks, Tembe happily went for her checkup and ultra scan.

However, Tembe and her husband were unexpectedly confronted with most-shocking news: their baby son had nasal encephalocele, a very rare condition where the brain protrudes from a hole in the forehead.

They were then informed that they must not expect that their child would “be a human being,” due to the enormous growth. The couple was advised to terminate the pregnancy immediately. However, the couple rejected the idea, and Tembe relates that “her baby was telling her that he is OK” when she had the ultra scan. They decided to stick together through thick and thin, come what may.

Thus, when they were asked if they would continue with the pregnancy, Tembe recalled, “I said, if you tell me there’s a one percent chance that my son’s going to be OK, I’ll take it,” according to The West Australian. Jayden was born sometime in 2013.

Baby Jayden was born several weeks early, and then at 1 week old, he underwent a complicated, risky surgery. “It was confronting. We were scared. We were shattered. Lots of tears,” Sipho told 7 News.

Tim Hewitt, the plastic surgeon part of the team of 10 specialist surgeons from Princess Margaret Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital, said the operation was lifesaving and extremely delicate.

“It’s risky surgery,” Dr Hewitt said. “There are a number of ways in which we could’ve encountered big problems during the operation.”

Surgeons said it was the biggest growth they had ever seen. However, after the marathon six-hour surgery, involving 10 specialist surgeons who helped put his brain back into his skull, everyone was amazed that Jayden managed to recuperate so well.

His surgeons did an outstanding job and doctors were amazed at Jayden’s ability to recover so well. They also mentioned that all he needed was plastic surgery.

Undoubtedly, Jayden is a great kid; he is full of the joys of living, and his recovery was an astonishing feat for someone so young.

In an interview with Perth Now in 2017, Sipho said, “Jayden makes us happy. His smile, considering everything he’s gone through, he’s just an amazing boy.”

Alluding to her healthy and happy son, Tembe once said, “We live in a world now where everything has to be perfect, but life is not perfect. Jayden according to world standards is not perfect even now, but what’s perfect?”

His parents also set up a charity called Face Up to provide support to kids who are born with facial differences in July 2016 as per their Facebook page. The organization aims to “work with individuals with visible facial differences to boost confidence, empower and assist them to reach their full potential.” They support people of all ages with facial disfigurements including but not limited to birth defects, as well as the families of those affected.

Watch the video: