Life Defenders

Hayden Ray Whetstine miscarried at 10 weeks Before Britiney Whetstine miscarried her son, she was having what appeared to be a  normal pregnancy . Everything seemed to be progressing normally  according to the two ultrasounds she had. However, after her second ultrasound, she started experiencing “pulling pains.” She expressed her concern to her doctor, but was told the pain were likely just bladder spasms from a UTI and that her baby’s heartbeat was still strong. She was released on bed rest. She was doing some school work for Human Resources when the excruciating cramping started, followed by a gush. Her water had broken. She went to the bathroom to clean herself up before going to the emergency room. Right before she sat down on the toilet, she felt a strong urge to push. No matter how she tried to avoid it, her body took over and begin pushing. She felt utterly helpless. That helplessness turned into despair when she caught her son, Hayden Ray Whetstine, in h...

My name is Stephanie Temple (Kennedy) and I’m from Newfoundland, Canada. The same week my husband Dave and I split up was the week I found out I was pregnant. Everything was falling apart around me. What I had thought was a lifetime commitment now felt like it had been nothing but a waste of my time. I knew the “easy” way out of my mess was to have an abortion, but I couldn’t bear to take my feelings of desperation, anxiety, and uncertainty out on an innocent child. That baby was as much mine as he was Dave’s, and needed me the same as our two-year-old little girl… the only difference being location. It was a little over a month after leaving my children’s father, and I was living with my mom. On this warm day in May, I sat on the couch as my toddler was happily  playing with her toys, and a wave of emotions overwhelmingly engulfed me, though this day was going no better or worse than the day before. I was amazed at my daughter, and how resilient she was during this huge chang...

My name is Amanda Solomon. When I found out I was pregnant with our youngest, I was a 38 year old mother of three boys, ages 9, 16 and 19.  I am a cancer survivor, having beaten Non Hodgkins Lymphoma at age 24.  After doing aggressive chemo to beat my cancer, I was told I'd more than likely not be able to conceive again. Although disappointed, I had two beautiful boys and was thankful I had them. However, one year after finishing my maintenance chemo I conceived again. I had a beautiful pregnancy that gave me another healthy baby boy.  After I had my second son,  I began experiencing horrible issues with heavy bleeding during my periods. When my  third son was 2 , I had a procedure called an endometrial ablation which involves burning the lining of the uterus. I had no periods at all after this and my doctor advised me that it was impossible for me to become pregnant again due to not having a lining for the baby to attach to.  You can unders...

After three years of secondary infertility, Heather Iverson and her husband finally got to see two little lines. They were absolutely overjoyed, and so was their daughter, who was getting promoted to big sister. The Iversons went with a home birth and decided to leave the sex of their precious new addition a mystery until the birth. This is Heather's story. * * * "It’s a boy! Silas Lee!" I didn’t even notice he had clubfoot when he was born. We just snuggled, riding out the most amazing natural high of a med-free home birth and seeing our son for the first time. After about an hour, the midwife brought him over to weigh and measure him and get his little footprints. That is when she told us that our son had clubfoot. Many would have been distressed but we were just happy our precious son was here and knew that we would get through this. We educated ourselves on what clubfoot was and visited specialists to start the correction process. Our paediatrician referr...

My name is Margarita. I am 26 years old and was brought up in a non-Christian, single-parent home with a mother who worked full-time to provide for me. As a result, we rarely talked or bonded. At the young age of 13, I fell into the wrong group of people. They were promiscuous, doing drugs, and living wild without consequences.  The importance of purity and the wisdom to walk away was not imparted to me by my mother, so I simply followed their lead. This led to many nights stranded at strangers’ houses, hungover, and constantly in the company of guys of all ages. By the end of the 8th-grade I was pregnant but actually didn’t know it until about halfway through the pregnancy. This extreme and debilitating stomach sickness showed up randomly at the end of my 8th-grade year and would not let up. For weeks I could not eat or drink; instead, I would lay in bed crying and exhausted. I finally went to the doctor who deemed it to be a stomach virus that would eventually pass. I suff...

In January 2016, Robyn Power of Newfoundland, Canada found out she was expecting her son Thomas. Her little family was growing, and she couldn't have been more excited. Her first ultrasound came back normal and so did her second one a few months later. But not long after her second ultrasound, she received a call from the hospital. To her dismay, they broke the news to her that her son may not make it. He had a blockage in his heart and the chances of him living without needing a transplant were very slim. They sent her to a specialist in St. Johns so they could set up a good team for when her son was born to prepare for his open heart surgery. However, there was even more bad news! The doctors told her that Thomas had the marker for Down Syndrome and asked if she wanted to have an abortion. Robyn stood her ground and refused to take his life, telling the doctors that she was going  to love him no matter how he was born. A few weeks later, Robyn received even mor...

In December 2013, Jami Brooks was five months pregnant and abortion was the furthest thing from her mind.  However, following a  prenatal diagnosis , that would be exactly what doctors would advise her to do. During her 20-week ultrasound, Brooks and her husband Brian felt something  wasn’t quite right when the technician would not allow them to see the monitor. During the meeting with the doctor, he stated that a test had come back positive for   Spina Bifida  proteins. The medical professionals believed their daughter had what’s called   Gastroschisis , essentially a hole in the abdominal wall where her intestines were protruding through. The couple anxiously waited ten days to meet with a local perinatologist. He informed them that their daughter had a non-genetic birth defect or a cluster of defects that are categorized together called  Limb Body Wall Complex . Not only was their daughter’s abdominal wall completely undevelope...