Parents Learn Their Baby Has Deformities Yet Choose to Continue Pregnancy — Now He Is Their Blessing. The journey of motherhood is quite difficult for women, especially when a prenatal ultrasound reveals their child’s development is abnormal. At this point, some women decide to let go of their baby, while others continue their pregnancy.
The woman in today’s story falls in the latter category because she didn’t abort her baby after seeing her son’s cleft lip in the ultrasound scan. She and her husband chose to bring their little one into this world, not knowing how people would hurt them in the future. It was the happiest day for Sara Heller and her partner Chris Eidam when they discovered they would soon become parents.
When the Nebraska couple first saw their positive pregnancy test, they were unaware of what Heller’s initial ultrasound would reveal. At 24 weeks, Heller’s doctor asked her to go for her routine ultrasound scan. The results came as a shock to both Heller and Eidam because they weren’t expecting their baby would have a deformity. The ultrasound scan revealed their son, Brody, had a cleft lip.
At that point, the couple had the option to abort their pregnancy, but they chose not to. They planned to welcome their baby into this world. As Brody grew in Heller’s womb, his cleft lip became more visible. The couple couldn’t wait to hold their little one in their arms and share his photos with the world. Feeling proud of her baby, Heller said:
“We wanted to change what ultrasound/newborn/first-year pictures on our Facebook/Instagram accounts looked like. We wanted to spread awareness of cleft lips and palates.” Heller and Eidam planned to raise awareness about their baby’s condition by sharing his pictures, not knowing how people would react. Soon after Brody was born on October 7, 2016, Heller posted his pictures on her social media accounts, telling people how beautiful her little boy was.
Since she had planned to raise awareness about cleft lips and palates, she hadn’t expected her son to get trolled. “What’s wrong with his face?” an Instagrammer wrote after Heller posted a photo of Brody. The mother didn’t know how to respond to the comment. She recalled: “I wasn’t prepared to defend my 3-month-old and why he looks ‘different’ from other babies.”
A few hours after reading the negative comment, Heller went for dinner with Brody and her friends. While her girlfriends played with her little one, the server brought a folded napkin and placed it on their table. Heller looked at the server with raised eyebrows and then proceeded to open the napkin. Inside, she found a check worth $1000 with the message, “For the beautiful baby.” Heller recalled:
“Tears fell from my eyes immediately, and the happiness my heart felt is indescribable.”While some people bullied little Brody for something that wasn’t in his control, others praised him and found him to be beautiful. Heller was overwhelmed after receiving the check from the kind stranger. Meanwhile, she also believed arguing or fighting with internet trolls wasn’t the right option.
Instead, she chose to educate them and expected her son to do the same when he was older. “I will want him to educate, to be an advocate for younger cleft kids who don’t yet have their own voice,” Heller said. Heller and Eidam had planned to have surgery to repair their child’s lip and palate with their doctor’s approval. Brody’s medical expenses were partially covered by the money given to him by a stranger at the restaurant. Heller expressed her appreciation by saying:
“A complete stranger’s generosity restored our faith in humanity.” After multiple surgeries, the doctors were able to restore Brody’s smile. However, the little one had difficulty eating while he was recovering. Heller has received nationwide support since she shared her son’s journey on Instagram and Facebook. Netizens expressed their hope that Brody would recover quickly. They also left encouraging messages for Brody’s hardworking parents.
Heller stated: “Being Brody’s parent has taught me that people genuinely care about him. Strangers from all over the country want to hear his story and pray for him.” Heller felt inspired to share Brody’s inspirational journey on Instagram and Facebook after receiving so much love and support from her followers. She was proud of her son for overcoming so many challenges at such a young age.
While her son was undergoing multiple surgeries, Heller remembered the kind stranger’s gesture and decided to thank him. Heller mailed a thank you note and photos of Brody to share his progress because the unknown person had written their address on the check. Heller and Eidam were successful in raising awareness about Brody’s condition.
When Heller shared Brody’s photos on social media, the cleft community rallied behind the couple. Brody’s story demonstrates that beauty isn’t everything. A person’s inner beauty, resilience, and ability to persevere in difficult situations can sometimes distinguish them. Click here to read another inspiring story about how a boy born without a jaw and unable to speak a single word became a famous rapper by following his dreams.