Lisa Leathard and her husband, Nick, did not want children of their own.
The British couple were content with their lives. But an evening of stomach pain turned around their entire lives and plans: Lisa was pregnant and about to give birth.
The Mirror reports Toby Leathard was born less than an hour after his parents learned of his existence. Though unplanned and, in a sense, unwanted, Toby was greeted with love and joy by both his parents.
“I was 35 and Nick was 45, we’d agreed no children. Everyone was shocked, and they still are when I tell them the story,” Lisa said.
In 2014, Lisa said she started having stomach pains one evening after work. Other than swollen ankles, Lisa said she had no previous indication that she might be pregnant. But the pain became so severe that she could not sleep; and her husband insisted on calling an ambulance, according to the report.
Upon their arrival at Derriford Hospital, Lisa said she quickly was given an ultrasound, and doctors informed her that she was pregnant.
“They said yes there was definitely a baby and that it was coming now,” she remembered.
Here’s more from the report:
“There were loads of people in the room, and one midwife told me ‘there might not be anything we can do when the baby is born’ – I was having an unknown pregnancy and they had no way of knowing if there were problems with the baby, so they were preparing for the worst.
“He [Toby] was taken away for about 30 seconds and brought back – they said he was perfect, very healthy and thought he was full term because of his weight [7lbs7]….
“I later phoned my work and told them I couldn’t come in because I’d had a baby, it was absolutely crazy.
Since then, Toby has given his parents so much joy. Lisa later gave birth to a second child, Noah, in 2016. Lisa said she started taking pregnancy tests regularly, so they knew Noah was on his way.
The boys gave Lisa and Nick a complete change of heart about having children.
“Being a mum is fantastic – the boys are amazing,” their mother said.
Abortion activists often use unplanned pregnancies as an example of why abortion is necessary. They cite statistics showing that nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended, and say women need to be able to abort their unborn babies to live the lives that they want to. They assume that happiness only is achievable if women can choose if and when they want to be mothers.
But this simply is not true. Women who do not want to be mothers or fear that they can’t find that they can. Lethard’s story demonstrates how unplanned pregnancies often bring unexpected happiness through the blessing of a child.
