A 36-year-old mother who was told to abort her unborn child has revealed how she defied doctors after giving birth to a healthy baby boy.
Sinem Ibrahim, from Melbourne, said she was left reeling after a 20-week scan found her son Jordan had fluid built up in his body in the womb.
The family were told their son was potentially suffering from fetal hydrops – a life-threatening condition that causes the lungs to fill with excess fluid.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the mother-of-two spoke about her anguish after she was told to ‘seriously consider’ terminating her baby.
Little Jordan was born perfectly healthy – but when he was in the womb, scans found he had fluid built up in his body in the womb
Melbourne parents Tim and Sinem welcomed their baby son Jordan in September 2015
‘I was devastated,’ she said.
‘The fluid built up in the cavity around his stomach, the base of his lungs and in his skin fold. Babies with this condition don’t make it to full term.
‘Even if they do, they don’t last much longer after [birth].’
The couple had endured a whirlwind pregnancy after they struggled to conceive for two gruelling years before being referred to IVF.
Following six rounds of treatment, Ms Ibrahim fell pregnant.
‘It was surreal, I couldn’t believe it,’ she said.
‘Everything was going fine until the 10 week mark, when I had some bleeding but it ended up being fine. At the 15-week mark, I was bleeding a bit heavier.’
Ms Ibrahim (pictured with her baby daughter Hazel and now-two-year-old Jordan) spoke out about the terrifying moment she was told to terminate her first pregnancy
The family were told their son was potentially suffering from fetal hydrops – a life-threatening condition that causes the lungs to fill with excess fluid – but he was born perfectly healthy
After getting further scans, she was given the all-clear.
‘At this point, we found out we were having a baby boy,’ she said.
‘Everything was perfectly fine. The baby was healthy. I was told the bleeding was caused by my placenta because it was sitting low so I had nothing to stress about.
‘We were beyond excited and overwhelmed with anticipation to see our little bundle of joy on the monitor. The baby we had struggled and sacrificed so hard to have.’
The pregnancy was looking positive until the 20-week scan, when things took a turn for the worse.
‘It wasn’t even five minutes into the scan when I noticed the sonographer’s face changed,’ Ms Ibrahim recalled.
‘I knew in my heart something was not quite right. She was really panicking. I was getting really anxious because she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.
‘She scurried out nervously to get a second opinion from another sonographer, and devastatingly when she returned her face was just as concerned.’
Happy family: Parents Tim and Sinem now have a baby daughter named Hazel and son Jordan
The mother said her son has been very active and mischievous like any other two-year-old kid
She was told her unborn son had a genetic disorder called fetal hydrops – an accumulation of built up fluid within the body.
‘I was told this condition is often fatal,’ she said.
‘Following an amniocentesis test, I was advised to see my obstetrician and to seriously consider terminating the pregnancy.
‘The doctors were pretty adamant because terminating the baby was the best plan of action.
‘I was devastated but something inside me felt naive because I didn’t think this was the case.’
When Ms Ibrahim told her parents about the devastating news, her mother remembered being told about having the same fluid during her pregnancy.
‘When my mother was pregnant with me, she remembered being told something was very wrong with me and that I might be born very sick,’ she said.
Her mother managed to track down her medical files from a Sydney hospital where Ms Ibrahim was born.
‘By the time we got the medical files, I was at the 30-week mark. The files showed I also had fluid built up in my body when my mum was pregnant with me,’ she said.
Following two gruelling years of struggling to conceive, Ms Ibrahim fell pregnant via IVF
She was born perfectly healthy.
‘I just knew everything was going to be fine. We weren’t going to terminate, I trusted in my gut that my son would be okay,’ Ms Ibrahim said.
Miraculously at 30 weeks, the fluid started to clear. And by the final scan at 37 weeks, the fluid disappeared.
The mother gave birth to little Jordan on September 30, 2015 after she was induced.
‘He was born perfectly healthy,’ she said.
And fast forward more than two years, Ms Ibrahim – who also has an eight-month-old daughter named Hazel – said her son has been doing fine.
‘He’s perfectly fine,’ she said.
‘He’s mischievous and cheeky. He’s a bit of a chatter. He’s two-and-a-half years old now and he’s very active. It’s what you expect for any typical two year old boy.’
After his birth, the mother and son were diagnosed with hereditary stomatocytosis – a rare disorder of red blood cells that affects only 10 people in the world.
Following her first pregnancy, Ms Ibrahim found solace through exercising. And it was here she started her own business Maze Activewear.