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Brave Mum Is Carrying Terminally Ill Baby To Full-Term So She Can Donate Organs

Brave Mum Is Carrying Terminally Ill Baby To Full-Term So She Can Donate Organs

An incredibly selfless act.

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A selfless mother is carrying her terminally ill baby to full-term so that she can donate the little girl's organs to save others.

A few months back Keri and Royce Young found out they were expecting their second child and were over the moon to learn that they were having a baby girl.

However, their happiness turned to devastation when they attended their 20-week scan and found that the baby has anencephaly - a rare birth defect in which children are born missing parts of their brain and skull - and that she was terminal.

Keri then made the brave decision to carry the baby to full-term, another 20 weeks, so that they could donate her 'perfect' other body parts.

In a post on Facebook, Keri wrote: "She has perfect feet and perfect hands. She has perfect kidneys, perfect lungs and a perfect liver.


"Sadly, she doesn't have a perfect brain. We found out recently she has anencephaly and is terminal.

"This was not an easy decision. For the next 20 weeks I will feel her kick, I'll have the hiccups, and we'll be able to hear her perfect heart beating all while knowing we'll only get a few short hours with her when she's born."

After announcing her decision to go ahead with the pregnancy in the hope of saving the lives of other babies, Keri has been inundated with well wishes and support.

She said that after learning that her baby, which they have named Eva, would not survive, her doctor told her they would be able to donate her organs.

Keri explained: "At this point I knew what we had to do, I just didn't want to do it. The reality of feeling her kick for 20 weeks was very much settling in.

"Strangers excitedly asking me about my stomach and friends not knowing how to treat us was devastating to think about.

Credit: Facebook/Keri Young

"I told some of my friends I thought it sounded like my own personal hell and why in the world would I want to bring that upon myself?"

The couple have set up a Facebook page to keep people updated on the progress of their pregnancy. Royce wrote: "I was watching my beautiful wife sleep peacefully on the couch. I looked at her laying there, her belly big with our daughter kicking away, a daughter that won't live more than a few days, and it just overwhelmed me of how incredible this woman is.

Credit: Facebook/Keri Young

"In literally the worst moment of her life, finding out her baby was going to die, it took her less than a minute to think of someone else and how her selflessness could help. It's one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced."

What an amazing woman.

Should we all be organ donors automatically?

Organ donation is still relatively rare in the UK, because even though more than half a million people die each year, only around one percent die in circumstances which allow their organs to be donated. This becomes even more difficult when you remember that not everyone is on the organ donation register.

France has recently overcome this problem by making every single French citizen an organ donor.

Credit: PA

The rule, which came into effect on January 1, sees France follow in the footsteps of Spain and Austria when it comes to "presumed consent", which means anyone can become an organ donor when they die unless they choose not to.

If French citizens want to take themselves off the list, they will have to sign up to the National Rejection Register, which doctors will check at the time of death before factoring in organ or tissue removal.

Back in 2008, the UK rejected a system of presumed consent on the grounds of public awareness. However, in 2015, Wales overturned it and became the first nation in the UK to implement the system.

According to NHS Blood and Transplant, 6,416 people are currently waiting for a transplant in the UK.

If you want to sign up, you can do here.

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Keri Young