A mother who was told by doctors to terminate her pregnancy after six months has revealed she has no regrets about the decision to keep her daughter.
Tasha Anderson was 26 weeks pregnant when doctors discovered her baby had a condition where her heart was growing on the wrong side of her body.
She claims doctors told her this would leave the girl with severe mental or physical disabilities and therefore recommended an abortion.
But Tasha and her husband Sam, who are from Lander, Wyoming, refused, saying they would love their daughter no matter what.
They said it was “God’s purpose for her” and were shocked that an abortion was recommended to them, despite the age of the fetus.
Life hasn’t been easy for little Jamesyn, who was born in 32 weeks in May 2023 and weighing just 2lbs, after also suffering from reduced blood flow in the uterus, which stunted her growth.
She was diagnosed with another condition where her esophagus does not connect properly to her stomach. Doctors say it’s not uncommon for children with the condition to be born with other problems.
She has undergone 27 surgeries to correct the defect and will undergo her 28th procedure today.
Tasha and Sam Anderson were told to abort their daughter Jamesyn (pictured) after six months because her heart was on the wrong side of her body. The parents refused
Ms Anderson told the local publication Cowboy stands daily: ‘I can’t imagine life without her.
“She taught me so much about strength and resilience during these operations.
‘She’s a favourite [in the hospital] now because she has such a great personality, and they know she is such a fighter.”
Today’s operation aims to close a hole in the tube that has allowed food to enter her lungs and cause infections.
Jamesyn is now 18 months old and, according to her parents, a bit of a ‘spitfire’.
She is a happy and smiley baby, and despite not being able to crawl or talk, her parents say she is cognitively ‘where she needs to be’.
Her heart condition, called dextrocardia, affects about one in 12,000 babies born in the United States, statistics suggest. However, in many cases the condition itself does not cause any symptoms.
Johns Hopkins Medicine says online that children with dextrocardia but no other conditions “can live full, healthy lives.”
In some cases, the condition is not diagnosed until a person comes to the hospital later in life for a separate medical problem.
It was also determined that the baby had an esophagus that was not connected to her stomach, which prevented her from absorbing food. She has since undergone several surgeries to repair this
She was also diagnosed with esophageal atresia, or an esophagus — a tube that carries food from the mouth — that did not connect to the stomach.
It wasn’t clear when her esophageal condition was diagnosed, but the CDC says online that the condition is “rarely” diagnosed during pregnancy. It affects about one in 4,200 babies.
The two conditions are not often reported together, medical reports suggest, with a 2021 medical report saying it was the first to describe a case of a baby with dextrocardia with esophageal atresia and a tracheal complication.
But doctors at Johns Hopkins say children with dextrocardia often have other complications. On the internet they say: ‘Dextrocardia on its own does not usually cause any problems, but it often occurs with other conditions that can seriously affect the heart, lungs and other vital organs.’
Jamesyn’s dextrocardia was diagnosed in the spring of 2023, when her parents in Colorado were sent for scans after Ms Anderson showed signs of restricted blood flow for seven weeks.
While describing the arrangement, Mr. Anderson said Cowboy stands daily that the parents should ask the doctor to leave the room if an abortion was recommended.
“Is this going to be a problem for you?” Mr. Anderson asked his wife, “If she has a physical or mental disability?” Are you going to love the child differently?’
Mrs. Anderson said no, to which her husband replied, “Perfect.” We’re on the same page.
The pair then told their doctor, “It doesn’t matter how she was created or how she was born, that is God’s purpose for her.”
The birth was complicated: Ms. Anderson suffered from preeclampsia, high blood pressure that damaged organs, and she lost more than half of her blood.
After dilation failed, Jamesyn was born via cesarean section. At that time it also turned out that the placenta had grown through the endometrium.
The new parents weren’t able to hold their daughter until a month after birth, when she weighed three pounds.
Jamesyn underwent her 28th surgery today after doctors discovered food leaking from her esophagus into her lungs
The condition of the boy’s esophagus also meant they had to feed her through IVs inserted into her veins, which proved difficult as these were often difficult to find.
In one case, an IV intended to feed her was actually stuffed down her throat, causing fluid to leak into her lungs and causing her to nearly suffocate.
Jamesyn spent the first four months of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit and underwent repeated surgeries to stretch the esophagus to bring it to the stomach.
At five months old, she almost lost her left hand after an infection from surgery caused it to turn blue and required an amputation within an hour.
On another occasion, doctors had to keep her in a coma for two weeks.
At 11 months old, she was also given an emergency airlift from Wyoming to a hospital in Denver, Colorado, after she started having trouble breathing.
Her latest surgery was ordered after her recent hospitalization with RSV, norovirus and pneumonia, which revealed food leaking into her stomach.
Doctors are also currently feeding her through a tube inserted directly into her stomach – which was necessary after she suffered an extreme bout of vomiting.
By fourteen months old, they had managed to increase her weight to nine pounds.
The parents did not reveal how much the surgeries cost or whether they have health insurance, but Mr. Anderson said he now works multiple jobs to help cover the bills. Mrs. Anderson also said she has to wake up several times during the night to give her daughter medication.
They are currently looking for donations GiveSendGoand have so far reached $18,700 of their $20,000 goal.
The parents have also set up a prayer channel for her, which reaches as far as South Korea, where a group of people regularly pray for their daughter.