The parents of a severely disabled baby who lived for 100 minutes say they never considered an abortion, despite being offered one many times by doctors.
Jess Evans was expecting twins, but at twelve weeks doctors said one of the babies had anencephaly, a life-limiting condition where the skull does not form properly.
Jess and Mike, from Cardiff, were told their son Teddy would either be stillborn or die very shortly after birth.
Precious
But the couple turned down the option of abortion several times, never even considering it.
Jess said: “We thought that even if we had a moment with him, or 10 minutes, or an hour, that time was the most precious thing that we would ever experience.”
On April 22 last year Teddy was born just after his twin brother Noah.
Beautiful
Mike said: “The first time I saw him, I can remember thinking to myself: ‘He’s beautiful'”.
Angharad Griffiths, a nurse who worked with the family, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about his short life.
“A huge amount happened in those a hundred minutes, the family were amazingly brave, it was an hour and a half of pure joy.
Enjoying his life
“There was some sadness, naturally, they knew they were going to lose their baby.
“They knew that he would pass away, but they were overjoyed that he had been born alive and that they had those precious minutes with him, and they spent those precious minutes enjoying him and his life alongside his twin Noah”, she added.
Teddy’s twin brother Noah is now a year old, and is healthy.
Mike and Jess have started fundraising for a charity which aims to improve bereavement services for parents whose children or babies die.
