asiaone
Diva
updated 26 Sep 2013, 01:05
Login password
Wed, Mar 04, 2009
The New Paper
Email Print Decrease text size Increase text size
She had her tubes tied so that she could care for disabled child

THE baby's brain is only 1mm wide.

Huang Yurong, a 6-month-old Malaysian baby, suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition where fluid accumulates in the cavities of the brain.

Because of this, her brain has shrunk, and her head has ballooned to the size of a football.

Guang Ming Daily reported that she was also born with spinal deformities and her nerves are exposed. The baby also can't move the lower part of her body.

When her mother, Madam Yang Shu Jun, 38, was five months pregnant, she was told that her baby would develop spinal deformities and would be disabled for life.

She was then asked if she wanted to abort the child.

Madam Yang calmly replied: 'I want to keep her. I must give birth to her. Who can abandon their own flesh and blood?'

'I understood what I have to face if I went ahead. But I couldn't give her up. I told myself that it was a trial from heaven which I must accept.'

After Yurong was born, Madam Yang and her husband approached all the private hospitals in Penang to treat Yurong.

But they turned her down.

Eventually a hospital said yes, and it has now become Yurong's second home.

Madam Yang said Yurong, her third child, had already gone through a brain operation, which reduced the size of her head. It was about two times bigger before the surgery.

Yurong frequently waves her little arms to attract her mother's attention. But because she has kidney problems, Madam Yang has to drop by the hospital five times a day to collect her urine through a catheter, often in the middle of the night.

When asked if she was tired from taking care of Yurong, Madam Yang said: 'She's lovely, she never throws any tantrums. She is my child, I have no reason and no right to complain.'

She remembered quarrelling with a doctor after giving birth to Yurong.

She had asked for her Fallopian tubes to be cut, a process called ligation.

'I told the doctor that I wanted the operation so that I couldn't have any more children. I wanted to give Yurong and my two other girls my complete love and care.'

The doctor refused, but eventually gave in.

'I realised my daughter was a fighter. She has a strong will to live and is no normal child. I think my decision to give birth to her was the right one.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.

more: baby
readers' comments
Magenta,

One word to describe you...DISGUSTING ! If you have nothing good to say, pls for goodness sake.. SHUT UP YR BLOODY MOUTH. Every parents have to right to decide if they want to keep the bb, be it healthy or not. We as the outsiders will not understand the agony of the parents if the bb turns out to be otherwise.

Since the mum has decided to keep the bb, its best to give support, to her instead of writing unkind comments. The last thing we want is to have someone shooting her mouth off some unkind words!
Posted by Super Gal on Sat, 7 Mar 2009 at 01:53 AM
The parents have decided and no one has the right to judge.
I admire the mother's courageous and selfless act even though I do not necessary agree with her decision.
This is a terrible situation to be in and no one will wish this, even to their enemies ... and I was in such a similar situation before.
Posted by on Sat, 7 Mar 2009 at 01:04 AM
Magneta, are you suggesting to the mother to kill her own son. Even a beast will not kill its own offspring, why should we as human do so.

I pity the baby for the congenital condition. I have seen enough infanticide in India, Vietnam. Most of the babies are healthy. They are killed because they are females (no value), poor family finances, and superstitution.

Since the mother is courageous to carry to take care of her baby. Let lend our support rather than your "stupid" and pragmatic remarks, which is not helpful.

I have this friend whose the first son suffered a very rare lung deformation, gone through major operation to facilitate him to breathe. Change 2 medical equipment which is costly to facilitate him to breathe. They still love him and and even have the second baby. This .....
Posted by on Wed, 4 Mar 2009 at 14:11 PM
Magenta,
Are you a parent?
Posted by on Wed, 4 Mar 2009 at 14:09 PM
What is the point of making the poor child suffer when it has got no fighting chance in this society? Do you think I would be thankful for the birth if I am consciously aware of the perpetual tube stuck in my nose and the catheter at my bottom? I would gladly choose euthanasia. The baby won't survive into adulthood at this rate.
Posted by Magenta on Wed, 4 Mar 2009 at 13:43 PM

asiaone
Copyright © 2013 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. No. 198402868E. All rights reserved.