Hannah Dunn

In 2022, myself and Mark found out we were pregnant with a due date of July 2023, at our 12 week scan there were immediate concerns from the sonographer and we were immediately seen by a consultant, they believed our baby may have a chromosome disorder (either Pataus or Edwards syndrome). We were shellshocked. We were quickly referred for further testing at Leeds Fetal Medicine where we had invasive testing to confirm. Later that day, my waters broke, this was a potential side effect of the testing we had experienced, I started to bleed, I believed I was miscarrying but then everything stopped. We waiting with bated breath to hear back about our test results, they came back, our baby had Edward’s syndrome and due to my waters breaking, potentially club feet as well. Two weeks later, I had a medical termination. 

We were terrified by the statistics; 60-90% of Edward’s pregnancies do not result in a live birth. For those that survive birth, only 13% will see their first birthday. We chose to have a termination on medical grounds because we couldn’t bear to watch our baby struggle to live. It was still the hardest decision we have ever made and the darkest day in both our lives. 

We have since been blessed with two beautiful healthy girls; Holly in December 2023 and Amber in September 2025.  We think about our first baby often. We’ve watched numerous people in our life struggle with baby loss and this challenge is my way of contributing in a small way to the helping those that may be affected in the future.