Kaitlynn's Story
Diagnosis: Anencephaly
By Kaitlynn's Mother
In August of 1998 my unborn baby girl was dianosed with anencephaly. I was in my 20th week of pregnancy. The outcome of a baby with anencephaly
is death. I was a single mom of three children and my fiance abandoned me when we got the news.
I chose to have early labor (22 weeks) in the hospital with the help of my high risk doctor. I was given my options and told that my life would
be at risk due to too much fluid in my body due to the anencephaly. Because I had three C-sections already, I was told I would have to have another
one if I went full term with Kaitlynn. I had to make a choice for my sake and for my other three children.
Kaitlynn was born on August 21st 1998 due to induced labor in my 22nd week. I was able to have her vaginaly since she was so small. I had her
baptized and I was able to have a birth certificate due to her living for 16 minutes. We were able to take pictures of her and have a funeral.
Since the father of this baby abandoned me during the pregnancy, I was not able to get his name on the birth certificate. I have a child that is
six years old by the same man and he is telling her that Kaitlynn is not his. I had to pay for the burial expenses and any medical bills not
covered by insurance. I was able to convince my insurance company to pay for the inducement because of Kaitlynn having anencephaly.
Recently, I started a lawsuit to try to have paternity testing done to prove he is the father and have his name put on the certificate. I am
trying to get the legal system to understand what has happened. My six-year-old is getting conflicting stories and the father owes me for expenses.
The problem I am having is his attorney is trying to present this as a typical elective abortion, claiming no living child was born and that I
cannot have a paternity test done on a child who was not born. I did save Katilynn's cord in case I needed to prove paternity at a later date. This
attorney I am fighting against has told me there is a statute of limiations on an aborted baby. My attorney is fighting this, pointing out that my
child did live for 16 minutes.
You may not understand why I am doing this. The main reason is to have closure. My baby is in heaven without a daddy and I am trying to give
this to her. The money means nothing to me but the judge says I need to ask for money or there is no legal reason for the case.
I suffered a loss that was very difficult for me and I need closure. I am remarried and have a child that was born healthy in November of 1999,
one year after losing Kaitlynn. I was told that my chances of having another anencephalic baby were extremely high (around 80%) however, Hannah was
born healthy. God has his reasons for taking our little angels and I was blessed with another child. Kaitlynn is our family's little angel and we
visit her grave often.