San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Torrey Smith is asking for prayers for his unborn son who is suffering from what could be a disabling condition after refusing to abort the child.
FoxNews.com is reporting on the story of Smith’s unborn son, Kameron, who was recently diagnosed as having a one in 25 chance of being born with Trisomy 18. Known as Edwards syndrome, it is the second-most common autosomal trisomy after Down’s syndrome, but has a very low rate of survival because of heart, kidney and other internal organ disorders. A majority of babies die before birth.
Smith and his wife Chanel, who are the parents to son T.J., admitted that the diagnosis was devastating.
“My heart dropped and my wife was in tears,” Smith wrote on his blog. “I still had no worries because even though it’s high risk, I still viewed it as a 24-1 chance that he is fine.”
A second test was performed and it confirmed the first, only heightened the odds to a one in 10 chance that little Kameron had the condition.
The two were faced with hard decisions. “It was easily the hardest conversation I’ve ever been a part of. What do you do? Do you go forward knowing the outcome will be a miscarriage or death shortly after birth all while putting your life in danger? Or do you terminate the pregnancy?”
For Smith, who does not believe in abortion except for what he described as “extreme situations”, knew this was not an option for him, but he couldn’t speak for his wife.
“I realized I have no right to suggest to [Chanel] what she should do,” Smith wrote. “I can talk about the pros and cons of each, or maybe even make suggestions, but I couldn’t pressure her one way or the other. When I realized that, it hurt me to the core. I feared I could lose both of them.”
The couple ultimately decided to carry the baby to term and were thrilled when additional tests revealed the child did not have Trisomy 18 even though doctors say there could be other issues with the child.
“We are excited to know that our child has a shot at life and nothing else even matters. My wife is fearless waiting for the final test results. I never knew my admiration for her could grow any more than it did the day she gave birth to Torrey [TJ],” he wrote.
“Now we are praying that our little fighter continues to grow and we can meet him. I’m praying for life, not for his health. A disability doesn’t make you unhealthy; it just means you may have different challenges. We all have challenges, and we are ready for ours that will soon come. Prayers Up for Kameron!”
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