When Australian couple Thembe and Sipho Moyo went for their 21-week ultrasound, they were full of anxious hope and excitement — just like most parents. However, as doctors looked more closely at the scan they noticed a problem. The little boy was growing with a very rare deformity called nasal Encephalocele, which occurs when the the brain develops outside of the skull. In the case of Baby Moyo, a hole in his forehead had not closed up during a key stage in fetal development, which allowed the brain to protrude and continue growing externally.
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The doctors’ immediately advised the Moyos to end the pregnancy, explaining “he wasn’t going to be human. He wasn’t going to be a human being.” The distraught father-to-be said: “It was confronting. We were scared. We were shattered. Lots of tears.” However, despite their shock, the Moyos decided to reject the advice of the doctors and persevere with the pregnancy, believing and holding onto hope. One week after his birth, little baby Jayden underwent a very risky and complicated surgery, involving a team of surgeons, to literally relocate the his tiny brain.
The delicate six-hour operation was a huge success, with little Jayden surprising the medical staff with how quickly he recovered. The doctors said the operation would have no long-lasting effects on the baby, and he would only require some plastic surgery on his nose in the future. And now, four years later, the young boy is thriving and is a picture of happiness. His parents, looking at him smile today, said “considering everything he’s gone through, he’s an amazing boy.”
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Amazing is right. He defied the doctors prognosis and is able to lead a normal life. His parents, clinging to a little hope, have been rewarded with much joy and love. The grateful couple have set up a charity called Face Up to help support people with facial differences. As Mrs. Moyo explained: “We live in a world now where everything has to be perfect, but life is not perfect. Jayden, according to world standards, is not perfect even now, but what’s perfect?”
It takes great courage and strength to be able to cope with this sort of situation. We can marvel not only at the Moyos’ devotion to their unborn child, but also the God-given talents of the entire medical team who enabled Jayden to become the happy and loving boy he is today. Now that is perfection.
