Monday, November 26, 2007

A very sweet 16

VIDEO REPORT: Mother refuses abortion, daughter celebrates 16 years

The girl who wouldn't have a face? She's lovely. Click the link and see the video.

At seven months into the pregnancy, doctors realized that Donna Joy had a brain disorder called Holoprosencephaly, or HPE.

Physicians told Lori Vance that her child would be completely blind, likely deaf, likely born with no face, no ability to move limbs or suck and swallow.

"Basically, everything that makes you a human being was going to be missing," Vance told News Channel 11. "They wanted to terminate the pregnancy because they said she was going to die anyway," Vance said.

Vance refused.

She was determined to give Donna Joy a chance. "Even if it was only for a few minutes—to give her some dignity, wrap her up in a pretty blanket. Say ‘I love you’ and let her go," Vance said.

....

While the pre-natal studies on Donna Joy's brain were accurate, her functions have surpassed expectations.

"She didn't read the book on this disorder,” Vance said. “No one told her she couldn't do these things. So she does them anyway."


HT: Dawn Eden

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. The more folks who see my beautiful daughter's face, perhaps the more lives will be saved or changed for the better. Lori

Christina Dunigan said...

My pleasure, Lori. She is indeed lovely.