Doctors Warned Them Not To Have A Child But They Didn’t Listen. What Happened Next Shocked The World
Charlie and Colin Morgan were a happy couple from Sydney, Australia, but both of them suffered from a condition known as dwarfism. They wanted to start a family and have children, but doctors warned them against it, as their condition might cause complications. They didn’t take medical advice and conceived a child, but what happened next shocked not only the doctors, Charlie, and Colin, but the rest of the world.
Charlie and Colin were the perfect couple, living a happy life together in a beautiful suburb in Sydney, Australia. They shared many interests and had a lot in common. When they first met during their time at college, they hit it off almost immediately. Once they started chatting, they found out that they got along naturally, and it wasn’t long before the two became an item. However, both Charlie and Colin were suffering from dwarfism.
Charlie suffered from a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. This genetic condition affects a protein in the body called the fibroblast growth factor receptor. With this particular protein functioning abnormally, it drastically slows down the growth of bones and cartilage. Luckily, people who have the achondroplasia form of dwarfism can live long, normal, and happy lives, with only delayed and stunted development during their infancy.
On the other hand, Colin suffered from a form of dwarfism called geleophysic dysplasia. This is a rarer and more serious form that affects many parts of the body. It most commonly affects the bones, joints, heart, and skin. It is a progressive condition, meaning it continues developing throughout the person’s life. Because it affects the heart and the lungs, around a third of the babies suffering from geleophysic dysplasia die before the age of five. Luckily, if you make it past that point, you’re relatively in the clear. Colin was one of the lucky ones.
This is the long-winded way of saying that these two star-crossed lovers had underlying medical issues that they had to deal with, and that’s before we even get to the social issues. People would mock them and laugh at them, making fun of their small stature and calling them all kinds of mean and hurtful names. Thankfully, both Charlie and Colin were thick-skinned and didn’t let such abuse get to them. Their relationship was so strong that they decided they wanted to start a family. They had been married for several years by that point, and they owned their own home, so having a child was the next natural step.
However, despite their best efforts, they were struggling to conceive. The miracle of life is still largely a mystery, and even though there was nothing wrong with Charlie’s eggs or Colin’s sperm, the goal of falling pregnant still eluded them. The pair decided to check in with their doctor. Perhaps he would be able to run some tests or give them some hints and tips on how to successfully conceive a child. But when they arrived at the hospital, they were not expecting the news that they were given.
The doctor strongly advised against the pair having children. He had strong reservations about the safety and health of the child if two people with dwarfism conceived. There was a strong chance that the baby would inherit the condition from one or both of the parents. If they got a double dose of the dwarfism gene, then the likelihood of stillbirth was massively increased. It was a serious risk that Charlie and Colin needed to think about. Doctors advised that if they conceived and the child died in the womb, the consequences could be fatal for Charlie. There were always inherent risks when someone with dwarfism became pregnant, and it was a doctor’s job to try to protect life rather than put it in danger. They wouldn’t have been doing their jobs correctly if they had allowed Charlie and Colin to continue trying to conceive without being fully informed of what could potentially go wrong.
Still, there was hope. The child might inherit the dwarfism gene from only one of the parents. In fact, there was around a 25% chance that it wouldn’t inherit it at all, and they would produce an average baby that would grow like someone without dwarfism. It was a game of numbers, a game of chance, and a game of risk.
Before long, though, Charlie discovered that she was, in fact, pregnant. The couple had largely stopped trying, so the news was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. The pregnancy went without a hitch, and Charlie eventually gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Tilda, who inherited achondroplasia, her mother’s form of dwarfism. Then, less than two years later, the couple had their second child, another girl they named Tully. She also inherited achondroplasia from her mother.
After Tilda and Tully were born, Charlie set up an Instagram account. On it, she shared photos, videos, and stories about her family’s life. People from around the world took a great interest in this family of people who were all suffering from dwarfism, and it wasn’t long before Charlie had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. The followers all supported her and praised the family for being so strong and open. In return, Charlie would open up her family’s life and share intimate details of how the family felt and coped.
In one of her posts, Charlie candidly wrote: “One of the most difficult times for me was Christmas 2018. It was a period of pressure and prostration. I had postpartum exhaustion and lived on less than four hours of sleep per night for almost a year. I went back to work when Tully was only four months old, and it was very difficult for me. All this time, Colin and I didn’t exist as a couple or even as humans. We were just the parents.”
But things weren’t always so bad. In another post, she wrote: “It’s a continuous series of emotions, moments of exaggerated love and happiness, as well as a desire to have 10 more children one after another. It doesn’t matter how your week went. Even if it seems that you made a mistake with someone or something, you should know it’s not true. You didn’t make a mistake. You’re doing your best. No one will ever be a better mother for your children than you are. Nothing gives me more confidence in life than my children.”
Buoyed by the warm response from the legion of followers and supporters, Charlie and Colin once again tried for another child, eventually conceiving and, of course, sharing the news on social media. They documented the highs and lows of the pregnancy, but there was one big twist that no one could have ever predicted, something that left Charlie, Colin, and the many supporters and followers from around the world shocked beyond all belief. The third child miraculously was completely free of dwarfism. He had not inherited the dwarf gene from either his mother or his father. That meant that, despite all the odds, the third and final child was completely healthy and would grow up to be of normal height. He would one day tower over his parents.
Everyone was shocked by the news, with many believing it to be a miracle. The odds were very much stacked against Charlie and Colin, but despite that, they had given birth to not one, but three amazing children. Doctors ran all kinds of tests and checks, but they soon confirmed it: the third child had no trace of the dwarf gene in his body. The chances of the child avoiding the gene were incredible, and medical staff were shaken by this development. They had initially criticized Charlie and Colin for proceeding to have children, but they had quickly been proven wrong.
“I’ve coped with the criticism for choosing to have babies with these odds of them having dwarfism, but that’s a whole conversation in itself,” said Charlie via her social media channels. “I just want to say that bringing a child into the world with my odds is no simple decision.”
Despite what people told them and against medical advice, Charlie and Colin had not only had two healthy children with dwarfism but also a perfectly healthy child untouched by the condition. The chances of that happening were slim, but they managed to pull it off. It just goes to show that even though the odds may be heavily stacked against you, the chances of complete failure are very rarely zero.
So now it’s over to you. What did you think of this amazing story? How would you have felt if you were in Charlie and Colin’s shoes, with doctors strongly advising against you having children? Would you have listened to them, or would you take the risk? As always, we love to hear from you, so be sure to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section down below.
