"You can't have children!"
The obstetrician and gynecologist looked at the pocket woman who was less than 1 meter tall in front of her and categorically denied her idea of giving birth.
The pocket woman who wants to get pregnant is called Stacey, and she looks at her husband, Will Harold, do they really not have a chance to conceive their own children?
From a young age, due to stunted inferiority, he met a normal boy at the age of nine and fell in love
Stacey Pence was born in 1974 in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, USA.
From an early age, Stacey realized that she was different from others, that she could not grow up, and that it was difficult for her to walk.
Her parents and doctors told Stacey that she had a rare disease called osteogenesis imperfecta.
The disease left Stacey's bones very fragile, often with multiple fractures throughout her body.
The bone has been repeated in this process of breaking and repairing, making Stacey unable to grow up normally or even deformed.
Although Stacey's parents always told Stacey, "You are no different from others, you can do whatever you want." ”
But from the many details of her life, Stacey knew that she could not fall in love, marry, or have children like other young girls. This inferiority complex made Stacey unable to expect more.
When Stacey reached adulthood, she found a relatively easy job: working as a cashier in a supermarket.
Just sit in a chair at the cash register and swap out the change without having to move around.
In this way, Stacey spent most of her life for half a year.
Perhaps god took care of her hard work and diligence and gave her a miracle in life.
In 2000, Stacey was also 26 years old, and many of her friends and classmates were married and had children, while Stacey was still alone.
One day, while working as a cashier, Stacey met a teenager who also came to work, Will Harold.
Will is only 17 years old and on a summer job, and Stacey's special circumstances catch Will's attention.
Will found that despite Stacey's mobility problems, she was positive and optimistic and took good care of her reckless and naïve young man.
Stacey also gradually felt that Will, a young man, was more mature than his peers, and would also be more considerate of his physical difficulties, and would often help himself to do some physical work.
Over time, the hearts of the two gradually approached.
But Stacey knew that she was nine years older than Will, and Thatral was a handsome young man with a height of one meter and eight tall, a normal boy in every way, and that she really did not deserve to be with Will.
Will seemed to be aware of Stacey's concerns.
After Will turned 18, he officially confessed to Stacey that he was an adult and had a responsibility to shoulder the future with Stacey.
Stacey has always longed to live like a normal girl, and in the face of Will's confession, she finally moves her heart and agrees to be with Will.
Thankfully, the locals did not taunt the seemingly unworthy couple, but instead blessed them.
With everyone's blessing, Stacey's relationship with Will is getting better and better.
In 2004, at the age of 21, Will and Stacey, 30, entered the halls of marriage.
At the wedding, the two swore an oath to be together forever.
Unexpectedly, after a few months, there was a better news waiting for the two.
After marriage, life is happy and sweet, and after risking giving birth to the first child, I want to have another child
In 2005, Stacey looked at the pregnancy test stick in her hand in surprise: it was two bars, indicating that she was pregnant!
Stacey shared the good news with her husband, not expecting that the two were married within a few months of marriage and were pregnant with a child. Stacey had thought that her body would never be able to procreate.
When the couple ran to the hospital in ecstasy and wanted to ask the doctor about it, the doctor told them that they could not ask for this child.
Doctors said Stacey's body was too small to accommodate the volume of a formed fetus. If Stacey had forcibly conceived, she would have died.
Moreover, Stacey's children, there is a 50% probability of inheriting Stacey's osteogenesis imperfecta disease, does Stacey want to see her child like her, life is difficult to take care of?
Even Stacey's mother admonished Stacey, "Did you know you might not survive like this?" ”
But no matter how much people around her dissuaded, Stacey was determined to give birth to this child.
She and her husband are both deeply Christian, and they both derive their spiritual strength from a Christian guide, The Supernatural Birth by Jackie Meads.
Supernatural Childbirth is designed to help women who will never be able to have children, and when Stacey reads the book, she feels healed: "The more we read and study, the more we understand that life is a miracle." And my existence is a miracle in itself, so why don't I look forward to the next miracle? ”
So, in 2006, Stacey gave birth to her eldest daughter, Catery, by caesarean section. Catari weighs only about 1.87 pounds.
Soon, Stacey and Will discover that Catery often fractured her bones, apparently inheriting Stacey's osteogenesis insufficiency.
Fortunately, Cathary was much better off than Stacey, and although her legs began to deform, her upper limbs were not particularly bad.
Stacey was inspired, and not long after giving birth to Catery, she became pregnant again.
But this time, her fertility process was much harder.
Compared to the skinny Cartry, the second daughter, Macaya, was much larger.
The size of the Macaya was too large for Stacey, not only squeezing Stacey's internal organs, but also overwhelming Stacey's spine.
Stacey sometimes sheds tears unconsciously, like a humanoid beach ball.
Fortunately, although this pregnancy was hard, the results were relatively good.
In 2008, Stacey successfully gave birth to her second daughter, Macaya.
Makaya weighs 4 pounds, and apparently, Makaya is healthier than her sister Catari. This surprised Stacey and Will.
Stacey, who gave birth to two children, finally experienced the happiness of ordinary people in this family.
Everyone wanted her not to have children, but it turned out she could.
"Women should not be limited by physical conditions." This is Stacey's point of view, she believes that the child is a reward and gift from Heaven to her, so that she can face the suffering of life more positively.
In 2009, Stacey gave birth to a third child, her youngest son, Malach
。 However, Malachi was not as lucky as his two sisters.
The third child inherits the mother's disease, and the care of the three children requires the help of tools
In November 2009, Malachi was born with a virus. The virus controlled his respiratory system and produced hernias.
Hernia is the displacement of organs in their normal anatomical position and leads to a certain degree of physical pathology.
Malachi was immediately taken to the intensive care unit after undergoing hernia surgery.
It wasn't until April 2010 that Malachi was discharged from the hospital.
The doctor diagnosed that although Malachi did not have the symptoms of congenital fractures like Catri, his physical weakness and susceptibility to disease were also inherited from Stacey.
When Stacey first heard that her son was also suffering from a congenital disease, she was very distressed.
But when she calmed down, she realized it wasn't a big deal, because her eldest daughter and she had experienced it.
As long as Stacey leads Marathi well, she has the confidence that both Catari and Marathi will be able to adapt to all kinds of hard life like her.
However, the difficulties faced by Stacey are not just diseases.
As the children's bodies grow stronger day by day, it becomes increasingly difficult for Stacey to take care of the children.
It was fine at night, because Will was home and he was responsible for changing diapers and feeding the baby. But during the day, Will has to go to work, which means Stacey can only take care of her three children alone.
Especially the second daughter, Makaya, when she grew up, it was difficult to take care of her with Stacey's physique.
Stacey had to use a special table to change her diaper.
When Macaya was a little older, the task of taking care of her was left to Will—because Stacey had no control over the child at all.
But when Macaya grows up, she has more things to do.
When Malachi was born, 2-year-old Macaya could help her mother change her brother's diaper.
Stacey doesn't go out to work, and Will is only in her twenties. So how do they cover this big cost?
Stacey says there's no need to worry about these issues.
Stacey runs a small shop for second-hand baby products: "Katari's Korner" and also has health insurance.
Although this can only be called "part-time", Stacey is helpless about it.
But even then, Stacey wouldn't ask for help.
She sees herself and Will as independent individuals, enough to cope with life's woes.
In 2010, the same year that Maratchi was discharged from the hospital, the news that Stacey had given birth to three children with a body of 73 centimeters quickly became selected by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "world's smallest mother".
Later, Stacey won the "Miss Wheelchair Pageant" in Kentucky, spreading Stacey's name more widely on the Internet.
As a result, many media rushed to report Stacey's deeds.
Stacey said in an interview: "I would also like to have a fourth child if I could. ”
As soon as this remark came out, it caused a lot of controversy.
Some admired the mother's tenacity, while others thought Stacey was selfish and had her child born with an illness.
However, these gossip did not have much impact on Stacey.
The timeliness of the news dooms Stacey's rumors to spread only for a while, and how life is only known to herself.
So soon, Stacey's news was hidden in a lot of weird lace news. It wasn't until 8 years later that a shocking news came out.
On August 29, 2018, Stacey passed away at the age of 44.
The news did not describe the cause of Stacey's death, but only introduced her legendary life.
However, many years ago, the doctor warned Stacey that giving birth would affect her longevity.
In the traditional history of osteogenesis imperfecta, although the body of the sick person is very fragile, the gap between the life expectancy and the healthy person is not very large.
But Stacey died in her prime, and it's hard not to link her cause of death to fertility. At this time, Will was only 35 years old, and he had to take care of his eldest daughter, 10-year-old second daughter, and 8-year-old young son.
The eldest daughter, Catari, was in relatively good condition, and with the help of her second daughter, Macaya, it was not particularly difficult.
On the contrary, the youngest son, Malachi, has been in constant pain since birth, and is still very thin and small at the age of 8.
Because of the need to take care of the children, Will's heart is exhausted, and eventually he is infected with drugs, and his once strong body becomes emaciated, and his rich face is tired.
Will was frequently jailed in 2019.
The mother died, the father went to prison, and the three children were very precocious at a young age.
Two years after Stacey's death, on February 8, 2020, Malachi was overwhelmed and left with his mother, at the age of 10.
Malachi's death causes Will to reflect on his mistakes.
He began to quit drugs, trying to get himself back into a normal life.
However, the results were slow, and although Will had stopped touching drugs and regained his previous form, in 2021 he went to jail for other criminal reasons (undisclosed).
Could it be that Stacey's death really dealt Will such a blow that he became another person entirely?
This is not the case.
In the 8 years that Stacey "disappeared", Will actually had a criminal record. Although the cause of the crime is not disclosed, it can be seen that Will has gradually lost patience in family life.
After all, from Will's point of view, he graduated from high school and did not go to college, he was already married and became a father. His wife and children, on the other hand, were suffering from a very serious illness, perhaps something that young Will could not bear.
In 2022, Will is still serving his sentence.
His two daughters are now taken over by the Social Welfare Department.
And what the future of the two children will look like in the future is still unknown.
Maybe in Stacey's mind, she just wanted to be a mother like a normal person. But her and Will's impulsive impulses have led everyone's lives in an irreversible direction.
Parents should be born with more proper consideration, rather than having a blind optimistic spirit. Stacey loses her life in this gamble, and Will becomes depressed and miserable.
The worst were Cathary and Macaya. Catari will repeat her mother's suffering; and Macaya, even a normal person, will live her whole life with the shadow of her father's imprisonment, her sister's illness, and her brother's death.
And these, no matter how much maternal love Stacey paid back then, can not make up for it.
Resources:
Beijing Morning Post
China Youth Network