A seven month-old baby boy is defying the odds after his parents backed out of their initial plans to abort the child, who had been diagnosed with a rare condition in which his brain was growing outside of his skull.
Doctors had advised Dustin and Sierra Yoder to consider abortion after diagnosing their 22-week-old son with encephalocele, an abnormality of which he was not expected to survive.
“We were unimaginably shocked when we got the dire prognosis,” Sierra told People Magazine.
“The specialist gave us no hope that he would ever live, breathe or thrive,”
The Yoders scheduled an abortion as they determined that they didn’t want their son to “suffer.” However, just before the appointment, Sierra changed her mind. She couldn’t bring herself to end her child’s life.
Doctors told the Yoders that even if their son survived birth, he would likely be a vegetable. They provided the couple with information on area funeral arrangements.
Upon birth, little Bentley did not die despite struggling with infections and other complications.
Last month, at five months old, Bentley underwent an extensive surgical procedure involving a team of 40 doctors that lasted five hours.
While encephalocele cases are rare, and Bentley’s case was even rarer since his brain was actually functioning normally outside of this cranium.
“We are so positive,” Dr. John Meara, the plastic surgeon-in-chief at Boston Hospital, told reporters.
“He bounced back very quickly and he returned back to his baseline, neurologically, very quickly. Several days after [surgery], he was back to where he was beforehand.”
Yoder says that she is thankful that she didn’t abort her son.
“Doctors are amazing, but some of them don’t know what they are talking about,” she told ABC News. “As a mother, you have to trust your gut. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have my son right now.”
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
