The sterile dressing that Faith wears on her head.
In the early stages of her pregnancy, Canadian blogger Myah Walker was confronted with a mother's worst nightmare. Doctors told her that the baby had only a partially formed brain, and would likely die before birth or shortly afterwards; a condition called anencephaly. She refused abortion. And despite the odds, her baby is still alive two months after she was born.
Anencephaly is when a foetus's neural tube fails to close as it should during the early stages of development, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Babies with the defect normally die stillborn, or a few hours or days after the birth.
Nineteen weeks into her pregnancy, Myah was told of her baby's condition and advised to abort the foetus. But the young woman, full of faith, refused. And despite all scientific improbability, Faith Hope, born 19 February, is still alive. Her mother writes the blog "We walk by Faith, not by sight". Attacked by several outraged web users, she explains her decision to The Observers.
Myah Walker is from New Brunswick, Canada.

They didn't outright advise me to terminate the pregnancy, but it seemed like they weren't accepting or supporting my decision to continue. When I switched doctors, the first thing they asked was why. I was so angry that the first thing that came out of my mouth was, ‘Because abortion is murder', but actually that's not really the reason. I didn't carry my baby to prove a point or obedience to god or moral values. I just wanted to have my baby; I love her no matter what.
I started a blog eight weeks before my due date, just to post pictures and videos for friends and family. Then I started receiving hate mail. It really hurt and I was baffled by it at first. I couldn't understand why they were attacking me. But I've gotten past it. I don't read it anymore.
When she was born alive and thriving, somehow I wasn't really surprised. My hope now is that she'll just continue like she has been doing. I know it sounds crazy to some people, but I honestly believe that she could go on for months or years. I'm not shocked; I know why she's here. But I guess for people who don't really believe in god or miracles, it's pretty much a head-scratcher."
The day Faith was born, weighing 6lb and 9oz (3kg).
Faith's first trip outdoors.
Comments
What's under the hat?
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Mon, 18/05/2009 - 20:43.Hey Myah, if Faith is such a beautiful miracle from God why not show the world what's under that cute hat? [Deleted]
wow
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 27/05/2009 - 18:30.wow.. i just read ur comment and was shocked.. the way i read it you are being rude and that comment is uncalled for.. you dont ask a mother to take her childs hat off to see the empty skull.. do you not have any compassion or a heart..//
Where are the doctors
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Mon, 18/05/2009 - 03:59.It is curious to me that this poor child is being touted all over town as some kind of miracle & yet there have been but 2 mainstream media articles about her, with it would seem, absolutely no attempt to gain comment from the hospital where she was born or the doctors who are involved in her care. IF she is indeed a miracle, rather than just a terribly sad part of the 5% of such babies who do make it past their first few hours of life, why isn't anybody of repute interested? Call me a cynic but I can't see the truth here, for all the smoke and mirrors.
Who's paying for this?
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Sat, 16/05/2009 - 23:41.I'm really wondering... being in Canada, who is actually paying for the life support of this mess? I'm all fine if the parents do pay out of pocket for their "choice". Hey, it's your resources, use it however you see fit. But if the national insurance system pays even a cent to keep this hopeless case alive, it's a gross disservice to the thousands out there who could use that resource for, you know, actual conditions threatening the lives of thinking, feeling humans.
I hope that someone will tell me that they are paying for the care out of their own pockets, and prove my concerns irrelevant. But if the opposite is true, it's truly tragic.
A Mother's Dilemma
Submitted by Carol Miller (not verified) on Sat, 23/05/2009 - 02:23.I'm wondering if you count yourself as one of these " thinking, feeling humans" or as what you seem to be from your post.......a truly tragic mess.
A truly tragic mess? What
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Mon, 25/05/2009 - 07:14.A truly tragic mess? What ever happened to not judging others? You fundies are supposed to take the Bible literally. What a nice typical fundie logical fallacy there: attack the poster calling him a tragic mess rather than attack the argument. That baby doesn't have a brain. It has a brain stem, so it can move and breathe and eat, all of the reflex actions. But it can't think. It will never have a quality of life. Yes, I said "it". It's a zombie. A "zombaby", if you will. I remember my friends in middle school told me that there was a condition where you can be born without a brain and still live, and I didn't believe them. Carrying a high-risk baby to term is just dangerous, especially when the baby would most likely be stillborn, so what's the point? They wanted her to abort the baby so she wouldn't get attached to something that was destined to die.
But that's okay, it was already dead.
It's my understanding that
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Mon, 18/05/2009 - 02:42.It's my understanding that her c-section (elective - and against the initial advice of her doctors - to raise the chances of a live body known as Faith) was paid for by the gov't. Feeding tube - emergency room visits - presumably thanks to Canadian Healthcare. Prednisolone and Pulmicort ????
It is tragic that this
Submitted by Concerned (not verified) on Wed, 13/05/2009 - 22:22.It is tragic that this mother continues to keep a child alive by tube feeding and expensive medications, who by all appearances in videos has no sense perception, no interactuion with the outside world and no life truly. The child in latest images does not even appear healthy and according to Myah at more than 10 weeks old is barely above her birth weight. The father Dan Lirette has even publically expressed an interest in touring with Myah and Faith as a mean of proclaiming their "ministry". This is little more than exploitation and not much better than what Myah Walker is doing by making her child's existance such a public spectacle. The child is the adulterous result of a married man and a young woman who met and were publically proclaiming the gospel in a radical way. The result of their "work" was a tragedy which continues to unfold in the public light.
That's the damn irony...the
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Sat, 23/05/2009 - 16:03.That's the damn irony...the thing is already DEAD! Let it rest.
hey dipshit. Before you yell
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 26/05/2009 - 08:09.hey dipshit. Before you yell at people. Get your head out of your ass. the first post you responded to was posted BEFORE the baby died