It was the spring of 2024, a day before Easter, when we took a home pregnancy test and were delighted to see the two awaited lines, implying “pregnant.” My husband and I gave thanks to the Lord for the gift of a new life.
This good news came to us after losing our first baby to miscarriage a few months earlier. So, this pregnancy felt like sweet spring water in the desert. As we had already suffered a miscarriage before, we decided to wait until the end of the first trimester to share the exciting news with our families. Once the three crucial months were over, we felt a sense of relief and gladly informed everyone, “We are having a baby.”
After that, we had two months of pure bliss and started making plans for what changes we would make in our house when the baby comes. It was a special time, and we could hardly wait for the 20-week anatomy scan, to know the gender of our child, so we could prepare the nursery accordingly.
Fatal Diagnosis
At the anatomy scan, we learned not only the gender but also something devastating and unexpected. Our little girl was diagnosed with a condition called anencephaly, wherein some part of the brain is underdeveloped and the skull is incomplete.
The doctors told us that this is not a baby you take home, as she is not compatible with life. My husband and I couldn’t believe what we had just heard. It hit us like lightning.
The doctors insisted that we abort our baby to avoid further physical and emotional pain of carrying a terminal child. They mentioned that Georgia law allows abortion in such situation even after 6 weeks, as anencephaly is 100% fatal. So, legally, it would not be wrong.
We were given time to think about it and get back to them with a response for what we would like to do next.
Christian Response
The first day of the diagnosis we were both numb from the shock. The next day, we decided to name our daughter and requested our church family to pray for a healing miracle. “Rachel Emmanuel Haile” was introduced to the world, and everyone we knew began praying for her.
The same day we wrote to our maternity doctors that we are Christians, and we believe that life begins at conception. Rachel’s life, however short it might be, was precious, and we could not put an end to a life that God had created.
Kicks of Life
Shortly after that, our sweet Rachel began to kick and move in my belly. It was the most precious moment when we felt her for the first time. From that moment on, we began to bond with our daughter even more. In spite of her fatal diagnosis, our little girl kept growing, kicking and moving, giving us proof of the life she had in her.
The doctors had warned us that she might pass away in my womb. They couldn’t tell how long she could survive. But just like the rest of us, the Lord had numbered her days.
In His Perfect Timing
She did not die in utero but lived on for 8 months, and on November 26, 2024 at 10:11 am, Rachel was born alive. Once the umbilical cord was cut, her heart rate began to fall rapidly. She stayed with us for about 20 minutes. My husband and I got to hold her. The Lord was gracious, and from our arms she left peacefully into the arms of Jesus.
We have heard that women terminate their perfectly healthy babies for personal reasons. We knew our baby could not survive outside of the womb, yet we carried her until God took her.
Healthy or not, each baby, each conception, each life is precious in God’s sight. For us Christians, abortion equates to murder, and, as the Lord has commanded us, “Thou shall not kill.”
We praise our Heavenly Father for choosing us to bring Rachel’s precious soul and body into existence for eternity. Continuing with the pregnancy gave us time to bond with her and to see her be born alive. My husband and I got to hold our sweet little Rachel in our arms before she went into the arms of Jesus.
While we would have written our story differently, we trust in the wisdom and sovereignty of our Lord to write our story.
In Christ,
Tania and Woldeab Haile
Guest Columnists
