Mother Proudly Shares Photos of Son After Stranger Asks Her 'What's Wrong With His Face?'
We are in a very interesting time where we have made great strides in medicine and have information at our fingertips that has never been available before.
Despite this, there is a lot of information out there that can be depressing or even flat-out incorrect for our particular cases — something you’ve probably experienced if you’ve ever tried to Google a health issue you’re experiencing.
Mother-to-be Sara Heller of Omaha, Nebraska, experienced that before the birth of her son, Brody. In a piece she wrote for The Mighty, she explained how defeating it was to peruse the internet in search of answers.
“Google told me I would not be able to breastfeed my baby, that he may never walk and that his developmental delay would be severe,” she wrote.
“While Google told me all of the things my son wouldn’t be able to do, Google didn’t tell me what my son would be able to do.”
Brody was born on Oct. 7, 2016, with a cleft lip and palate as well as a chromosome deletion. Heller and her partner Chris Eidam discovered their baby would be unique at 24 weeks of pregnancy, according to “Today.”
“They asked us if we wanted to keep the pregnancy,” said Chris Eidam, the boy’s father, according to WOWT.
Brody’s condition is so rare that only nine cases are known of, but mom and dad were determined to keep their child — and more than that, they wanted to celebrate him.
They wanted to change people’s perceptions, so Heller started to document their journey.
“It is OK to be proud of your baby no matter the circumstances,” Heller said, according to “Today.”
“We wanted to change what ultrasound/newborn/first year pictures on our Facebook/Instagram accounts looked like. We wanted to spread awareness of cleft lips and palates.”
Of course, not everyone was kind with their comments, and Heller had to deal with some rather tactless queries about their baby’s appearance. One commenter on Instagram even asked, “What’s wrong with his face?”
But they received lots of support, as well, including a generous donation from someone who spotted them at a restaurant.
Heller was out with Brody and some friends when a waiter brought them a check from another patron. The check was for $1,000 and the memo line read, “For your beautiful baby.”
“The generosity of a complete stranger restored our faith in humanity,” Heller told “Today.”
“Being Brody’s parent has taught me that people care. Strangers all over the country want to hear his story, and they want to pray for him.”
Brody had his first surgery on Jan. 3, 2017, and will have many more over the years as he develops. He’s a beautiful child and Heller keeps followers updated on his progress through her Instagram and Facebook accounts.
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