The Miracle of Jaime Herrera Beutler and her baby!

                                              REAL LOVE INVOLVES SACRIFICE

I must admit that although the story below happened some years ago I only heard of it last evening. I stumbled upon an interview published on kokomo.com on January 13, 2021 with CNN’s Dana Bash and Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler and her husband.

Some years ago, in 2012, Jaime and her husband were overjoyed to find that she was pregnant with their first child. But shortly after that they had to deal with perhaps “the most devastating prenatal diagnosis a young married couple could hear.”  They were told that the baby in her womb had no kidneys.

“There is nothing that can be done,” the doctor told them. The child had what is known as “Potter’s Syndrome.” The main cause of the abnormality is still unknown.

Did they consider abortion? After all, a human being cannot live without kidneys. 

No. Abortion was not considered to be an option, Jaime’s husband said. The child in her womb had a heartbeat…..therefore the child could live…. there had to be something that could be done. “We were going to contend,” they said. They went public with the heart-wrenching situation they were experiencing.

Sometime after the fateful diagnosis “a stranger who heard their story suggested an experimental treatment.”

The young couple decided to try the experimental treatment and it was carried out at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The child in her womb was still alive.

The next amazing thing was that the baby was born……born without kidneys…..it was the first time (that we know of) that an infant was born with no kidneys.

She was beautiful and they named her Abigail.

Her father immediately had one of his kidneys implanted in the child so she could live. 

While some couples might have been wary of having more children because of the circumstances surrounding Abigail, they went on to have two more babies.

The circumstances surrounding Abigail’s birth and development are, to say the least, remarkable. Because of what happened with her, other babies in the world have survived the Potters Syndrome. 

But there was more to come. Her father had plotted a career path that included going to law school. Now he had three little children and his wife was a Congresswoman. 

He decided on something. He became a “stay-at-home Dad,” raising his family and caring for them every day of the week.

His wife considers him “an amazing person.” He gave up his promising career to care for his three children and allow her to succeed in the high-profile position she has. She appreciates what he has done, the example he has set for their children, and she hopes that someday, somehow, she will have the opportunity to do the same for him.