Man praises noble wife for giving up their unborn child with rare condition to be examined for research

Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

The founder of humanitarian relief agency Radion International took to Facebook yesterday to write about the exceedingly noble sacrifice his wife made in the name of medical research, even as she endured the emotional and physical agony of losing their child.

In a birthday greeting for his wife, Eugene Wee wrote about how they lost their five-month-old just a couple of weeks ago — but a loss that was not made in vain. According to him, their unborn baby was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a rare condition of chromosomal abnormality. Also known as Edwards syndrome, the condition is due to an extra chromosome in the developing baby, disrupting the normal pattern of development to the point of being life-threatening before birth.

Doctors told Wee that their child would be afflicted with severe mental disabilities, multiple physical deformations and will most likely, not live. The rarity of such cases, however, “caused a stir” in the medical faculty of Chiangmai University, and professors requested a detailed scan of the fetus. Medical students were told to get as much knowledge as they can from the case.

Wee’s wife could have easily denied them the intrusion of privacy, but she willingly allowed to undergo an ultrasound scan for four hours.

“It was painful for her. Hearing them discuss about her own child’s brain, the enlarged heart, the missing arms, the face, the lack of organs, etc,” wrote Wee.

“But there she lay exhausted emotionally, physically and mentally, just so future medical doctors could learn.”

The ordeal, however, was not yet over. The medical faculty requested that the full fetus be kept intact for further research — Wee’s wife would have to undergo labor instead of removing the fetus through surgery.

“If my child needs to die, then it should not have to be in vain,” she said to Wee, agreeing to the request.

It took 33 hours of painful labor for the child to be delivered. Throughout it all, the wife refused to give up and opt for surgery instead, determined to make the sacrifice for medical knowledge.

“After 33 hours, the child was delivered in silence and the fetus was rushed off to the medical facility for preservation,” Wee wrote, hoping that the medical students of Chiangmai University will know the story behind the fetus with trisomy 18.

“A story of faith, love, and sacrifice, to journey with you, in hopes that you will better mankind,” he concluded, praising his wife for being an inspiration to him.

The heartfelt post has since been shared thousands of times on Facebook, with hundreds of comments in support of the couple for their sacrifice.



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