A young mum who rejected pressure to abort three times says her little girl is now doing “amazingly well”.
Jamie Curtis found out her daughter had a large hole in her heart at 25-weeks pregnant – a discovery she described as “so devastating”.
But she wanted to give her unborn baby “the best chance” at life and now two-year-old Myla Curtis is excelling.
Not giving up
Babies believed to have disabilities can be aborted up to birth in England and Wales.
There was no way that we were giving up on her. I’m so glad we didn’t
Jamie revealed that doctors offered her abortions at 28, 32 and 36 weeks, but each time she said no.
“There was no way that we were giving up on her. I’m so glad we didn’t”, she said.
Major surgery
After the birth, surgeons performed an operation on Myla at just five days old.
“It was terrifying watching her go through such major heart surgery as she was still so tiny”, Jamie said.
She added that doctors still do not know what caused the hole, but that the surgeons “have done such a good job that you wouldn’t even know that she had a heart condition”.
Happy girl
Since going home, Myla has thrived: “She’s such a happy little girl and wants to be everyone’s friend”, she “has a smile for everyone she meets”.
“She sometimes gets breathless because of the reduced blood flow around her body, but to look at her you wouldn’t guess that she only has half a working heart.
“She does amazingly well.”