A girl who was told to abort her baby because he can be born without arms is grateful she didn’t take doctors’ advice.
Mariaan Strauss, 25, and her husband, Hendrik Strauss, 26, were excited to learn that Mariaan was pregnant, but 13 weeks in they got bad news.
At their first ultrasound, they found that their baby was not developing arms.
The couple claims that their doctors advised them to terminate the pregnancy, but that call didn’t sit right with them.
“Society is cruel … I believed, Will our child ever be accepted? Is he going to be mocked and bullied?” Mariaan wondered.
“The words of my specialist kept running through my head: ‘You’re selfish in case you don’t abort. You will need to consider the kid. He won’t ever find a way to have a traditional quality of life.’”
“I used to be offended at God for allowing this. There was self-blame and pain. And the fear of the unknown and an uncertain future,” she shared.
The couple, who each work full time, knew that raising a baby with a physical disability can be difficult, however the Strausses were determined to welcome their baby boy.
Mariaan gave birth to Hendré in June of last 12 months, nevertheless it took just a few months for her to feel confident that she made the proper decision.
“We cried since it was such an attractive moment,” said Mariaan. “Then the large, dark depression hit me.”
“I believed, Why us? Why our child? You pray and also you ask for a healthy child, but then this happens. But when I had to decide on today, I might take him similar to that, again. Without arms.”
Unfortunately, baby Hendré was born with just a few other complications.
His foot was turned inward, which required him to wear a plaster solid, he was born and not using a fibula and his stomach hasn’t grown, so he can only drink 30 milliliters of milk at a time.
Hendré needs constant care, and sleeps at his aunt Chereé Greyling’s home two nights per week and two nights per week with Mariaan’s mother, Matilda le Roux, who also takes care of him in the course of the day.
While the parents were apprehensive about their son, they were elated when their baby boy learned to roll over and get around on his own at 3 months.
“When Hendré was 3 months old, he taught himself to roll from place to position and it was like a cloud lifted,” said Mariaan. “I spotted my child was OK, then I used to be OK and the depression went away.”
Proud father Hendrik explained, “If he desires to get to a toy on the opposite side of the room, he moves or he pulls his little legs under him and pushes himself forward.”
The couple plans to attend until Hendré is older before looking into getting him prosthetics; they need to remind those who it’s OK to not fit into society’s standard of what’s “normal”.
“Hendré is the best gift we could have received,” Mariaan said.