A young mother who refused to abort her conjoined twins has revealed she was ‘hoping for a miracle’ when she went ahead with a birth that doctors said was futile.
Brianna Pereyda has described a “spiritual battle” between “religion, science and numbers” over whether to listen to doctors who said there was no chance of either child surviving.
The 20-year-old gave birth to Josiah and Isaiah on October 9 at Banner UMC Tucson, Arizona, despite warnings that the birth could also leave her dead.
The two died shortly after birth and could not breathe due to undeveloped organs.
Pereyda’s battle between her faith and the rights of unborn babies comes amid a national debate over abortion and the way mothers, doctors or politicians make life and death decisions.
Brianna Pereyda, 20, gave birth to Josiah and Isaiah on October 9 in Arizona, against the advice of local doctors. She is seen here with the twins during their final moments, along with husband Emiliano Hernandez.
The deceased twins were given an open-casket funeral service and then buried on Thursday, eight days after their birth and tragically short lives.
“The doctors told me they wouldn’t survive,” Pereyda told The Mail.
“My mindset was that the babies would survive and God would save them.
“I kept saying, ‘No. God might give me a miracle.”
She added: ‘Even in the operating room I had hope that I would see my babies cry and open their eyes.’
Tragically, the doctors were right and both newborns died within 27 minutes.
“I saw them come out with so little life and couldn’t open their eyes,” Pereyda continued.
“When they broke the umbilical cord, they were already declining.”
She added: “When the twin was returned to me, he had already passed away. One still had a heartbeat. The other died shortly afterwards.’
There was just enough time for them to be “blessed by a father,” she says.
She and husband Emiliano Hernandez shared heartbreaking photos of the couple with the twins, and of their open-casket funeral on Thursday.
Doctors had warned Pereyda, who already had two healthy boys, not to continue the pregnancy.
She was told that the conjoined twins had abnormalities of the spine, body and organs, and that they both had ‘zero chances of survival’ because they would not be able to breathe on their own.
She described difficult conversations with doctors who she said “didn’t approve” of her decision.
“When I told them, ‘No, I want to move on,’ they just looked at me,” she says.
Brianna Pereyda and Emiliano Hernandez dressed in black for the funeral service of their short-lived twins.
Pereyda raised $7,165 through the crowdfunding site Gofundme.com to pay for the service and burial at Holy Hope Cemetery, Tucson.
She was urged to have an abortion at 34 weeks and receive an injection that would “stop both babies’ hearts.”
But she was determined and “very stubborn,” she says.
“Finally they said, ‘Okay, we’ll treat you.'”
She added: ‘They told me they would still help me but it would be best not to continue the pregnancy because of the risk of me bleeding, losing blood and dying.’
She says she found herself in a “spiritual battle – between my religion and science and numbers.”
The devout Catholic says she has turned to the church.
“I was visiting a father for advice, and this priest – I felt a strange vibe about him – he reminded me of my grandfather who had recently passed away, and I felt so comfortable with him,” she says.
“He told me it was still abortion, and it was against God.”
Ultimately, Pereyda says she “decided to follow my faith and religion.”
To some extent, the gamble paid off, as she “had no complications, just the babies.”
Abortion is currently a divisive issue in the US, but doubly so in Arizona.
The procedures became illegal after the recent reinstatement of a 160-year-old state law banning them.
The two died shortly after birth – something doctors had warned her was a certainty.
Pereyda says it has been a “very difficult time” for the young couple, who are “quite exhausted” and “still trying to come to terms with this.”
“I think part of us died that day,” Brianna Pereyda says of herself and her husband Emiliano Hernandez.
Pictured: Banner UMC Tucson, where the babies were born and then died from lack of oxygen.
However, the law passed by the Arizona Supreme Court in April states that abortions are still legal if a doctor deems the situation “a medical emergency.”
Under current regulations, abortion is legal up to the point where a fetus can survive outside the womb – hence the medical advice Pereyda received.
Pereyda says Josiah and Isaiah had a “beautiful” open casket funeral service and burial Thursday at Holy Hope Cemetery in Tucson.
She thanks the generous Gofundme.com users who donated $7,165 to the event – more than the $5,000 she requested.
“It made me very happy to know that my babies are receiving so much love and touching so many hearts everywhere,” she says.
But, she adds, it’s been a “really difficult time” for a young couple who are “quite exhausted” and “still trying to come to terms with this.”
“I think part of us died that day,” she says.
“I feel mostly empty because I’ve worn them for so long.”
Yet Pereyda has no regrets.
“The operation was worth it to give my children a chance at life,” she told The Mail.
‘I would do it again. If, as a mother, I had to sacrifice my body to save my children.’