Before Mikayla (a pseudonym) experienced her first pregnancy, she would have supported abortion believing that protecting women’s rights meant backing the so-called “pro-choice” movement.
“It shifted my whole trajectory,” she told Pregnancy Help News, in reference to the ordeal she and her husband endured as their first-born son was stillborn.
“It’s not just women’s rights, you know the babies, they’re very much babies at that point,” Mikayla stated. “The whole experience showed me how precious life is even when it’s a baby inside you can’t physically see, it’s still very much alive.”
Mikayla was a patient of Dr. William Lile, an OB/GYN practicing in Florida, who explained the baby boy she was carrying was diagnosed with multiple fetal anomalies early in pregnancy. Considering the situation others had encouraged her to terminate the pregnancy.
Lile’s practice supported Mikayla and her husband as they held out hope their son could thrive but regardless deserved a chance at life.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
When Mikayla first found out she was pregnant, having just finished nursing school, she was very excited yet concerned as she has a blood clotting disorder which required her to take injections every night.
At her 20-week ultrasound Mikayla’s baby was measuring behind, in the fifth percentile. Lile admitted her to the hospital for care with measures taken to try and help her son grow.
“At 21-weeks my blood pressure started to rise,” Mikayla recalled. “At 24 ½ weeks they came in to find his heartbeat and it was gone. I still remember just kind of thinking the nurse was maybe new and just couldn’t find it, so I wasn’t worried yet.”
The doctor came in and verified the results. She wanted them to try again, holding out hope they were mistaken as well. Sadly, an ultrasound confirmed that her baby had passed away. Mikayla was taken into labor and delivery for an induction of labor.
“I went through the laboring process and once he was delivered, I still expected him to cry even though I knew he was gone,” Mikayla said through tears. “After that, just holding him, he was measuring at 22-weeks, so he was very small but just holding him in that moment shifted a lot of things for me.”
“He had my husband’s eyebrows, and he had my nose,” she added.
“They put him in a blanket, and they took pictures of him for us. We got to hold him. Dr. Lile said a few words to us and said his name, and that he was a beautiful baby,” Mikayla remembered.
She described how bittersweet it was to hold her first baby knowing they were going to leave the hospital without a living, growing child.
Mikayla received additional medical attention to remove the placenta from her pregnancy. She texted her parents to invite them to come and hold their grandson, which was also very important to Mikayla.
Pastoral Services came to the room, and they were able to baptize their son.
Mikayla reflected further on that moment.
“It was something we wanted to do,” she said. “We held him as long as we could just memorizing every little thing about him.”
After a post-delivery visit, Mikayla wrote this regarding her experience on the doctor’s office website portal:
I felt compelled to reach out and let you know how much your practice has changed me and express my gratitude.
You and your practice changed my view on abortion and altered my life in ways you might not realize. The care you provided me during that time went beyond medical care—it was a reminder of the profound dignity and value of life, even in its smallest and most fragile forms.
She continued to explain how she had previously identified as pro-choice, but this experience shifted her perspective.
“I now find myself leaning toward a deeper appreciation for life’s sacredness, something I didn’t fully grasp before,” she wrote. “Holding my son at 24 weeks and hearing you speak made me realize that these voices need protection as well. Your work is making an impact far beyond what words can capture.”
Mikayla’s son had a congenital condition, early onset pre-eclampsia, which restricted his growth and caused his failure to thrive.
Mikayla praised the care she received throughout her pregnancy, delivery, and after-care in the face of the diagnosis. During the challenging final few weeks, she at times saw two or even three doctors a day getting the special care required.
“At no point did I feel like I was unsafe,” she noted. “They care about the health of the mom too, not only the baby.”
Mikayla is troubled by those who would use circumstances like her own to build a narrative which misrepresents life-affirming care. Her state of Florida has a heartbeat law in place, and this had no bearing on her ability to get the medicines and medical procedures she needed.
“They took care of me with no questions,” she said. “I was able to get the medicines that I needed to prevent me from getting blood clots.”
Tweet This: Mikayla is troubled by those who would use her prenatal diagnosis to misrepresent life-affirming care.
Mikayla was eager to share her story to bring light to the truth regarding life-affirming care and how the unborn are precious lives that deserve to be protected.
Her final message for Dr. Lile was, “Thank you for being there for my family and being a voice for these patients.”
