Lynlee Hope Boemer turned four months old on October 6. She lives in a suburb of Dallas where she is cared for by two loving parents and two big sisters. Known as the baby who was born twice, her life has been celebrated by People.com, CNN, CBS, ABC and Faithwire. But not long ago, 23 weeks into the pregnancy, doctors advised Lynlee’s mother to abort.

Margaret Boemer was 16 weeks pregnant when she discovered her unborn baby had a severe health complication — a tumor growing from the tailbone. This condition, sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT), occurs in one out of every 35,000 babies. Usually, the tumor can be removed after birth. But Lynlee’s case was even worse than others.

By 23 weeks, doctors told Boemer that the tumor was causing her baby to experience cardiac failure. They advised her to terminate the pregnancy. But Dr. Darrell Cass, co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center, gave her another option — fetal surgery. The procedure would be dangerous for both the child and mother, and there was a chance that the baby wouldn’t survive. But without the surgery, she definitely wouldn’t.

“It was an easy decision for us: We wanted to give her life,” Boemer said.

Risks for Boemer included a ruptured uterus, a blood clot or bleeding out. But that didn’t daunt her.

“Being advised to terminate your child is the worst thing a parent could be told,” Boemer wrote Monday in a Facebook post, noting the flood of recent media attention. “They are not just a clump of cells with issues or medical problems. These are lives, they are babies that need to be given a chance at life!”

The Surgery

An ultrasound showing the tumor before operation. The tumor is in the top right corner of the photo.

The surgery needed to give Lynlee a chance at life was complicated, to say the least.

The procedure consists of opening the uterus, operating on the baby, placing the baby back into the uterus and then resealing it. The baby is only out of the womb for about 20 minutes, Crass explained, and the majority of the surgery is spent on the uterus. Boemer and Lynlee’s surgery took place in March and lasted five hours.

At one point, Lynlee’s heart nearly stopped, but a heart specialist was able to keep it pumping. By the end of the surgery, almost 90 percent of the tumor had been removed, Beomer wrote.

“There are only a few hospitals in the world equipped to deal with SCT that needs fetal intervention,” Boemer wrote on Facebook. “Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has talented amazing doctors and medical staff that were able to perform the surgeries and care needed for our rare difficult SCT case.”

Boemer was placed on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. On June 6, Lynlee was born via C-section, weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The rest of the tumor was surgically removed when Lynlee was 8 days old. She came home on June 30.

“Currently Lynlee is thriving and doing well,” Boemer said. Lynlee is named for both her grandmothers.

Choosing Life — A Step of Faith

Many mothers in Boemer’s shoes may have chosen termination over high-risk pregnancy. Just last week, waves of stories like this one and this one inundated the internet after the topic of late-term and partial-birth abortion was broached during the third presidential debate.

As Hillary Clinton claimed during her defense of partial-birth abortion:

The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make. I have met with women who have, toward the end of their pregnancy, get the worst news one could get. That their health is in jeopardy if they continue to carry to term. Or that something terrible has happened or just been discovered about the pregnancy.

Indeed, many of the testimonials that came forward after the debate were from women who said that although they planned to carry to term, they discovered late in the pregnancy that their unborn baby had some sort of defect, disability or health complication that would make survival outside the womb difficult or even impossible.

While they told these stories to justify their abortions, Boemer says that for her and her husband, life was the only choice — a choice sustained by their faith. Boemer writes:

Lastly, we want others to know of our faith in God and Jesus his son who died to save all of us. He carried us through this difficult journey. The prayers and support from our family, friends and church family encouraged us to press forward. The songs from children’s songs to hymns to praise & worship music to contemporary Christian music played over and over in my head giving me strength and peace. Bible Verses, God’s true and living Word, spoke to me and gave me strength that God was in control and He would care for me and my daughter no matter what the outcome. We are so thankful to have our miracle blessing with us today! Lynlee’s story is a story of God’s hand on her life and God’s glory being displayed.

Moving Forward

Dr. Cass said that Lynlee is “doing beautiful,” and that it wasn’t his first time to perform a fetal operation on a baby with SCT. His previous patient, now 7 years old, “is completely normal,” CNN reported.

But that doesn’t mean that Lynlee’s life going forward will necessarily be easy. And that’s something the Boemers are fully aware of.

Boemer wrote on Facebook that Lynlee will have to visit Texas Children’s hospital for check-ups until she is an adult to make sure that the tumor is not coming back.

“Lynlee may have to have reconstructive surgery of her bottom/lower back in the future,” Boemer said. “We will also have to wait until she is older to find out if she has any bowel issues due to damage from the tumor growth.”

Boemer said they wanted to share Lynlee’s story to give other parents in similar situations “hope and information that there are options other than termination,” and to raise awareness about SCT.

“I want other Mothers to know there is help and not feel lost and alone like I did when I found out at 16 weeks that Lynlee had this SCT.”

Boemer said having Lynlee “was worth every pain.” She ended her Facebook post with the following Bible verse, Psalm 139:13-14:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.