KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder that can cause many symptoms such as problems feeding, heart defects and slow growth.
At around 12 weeks pregnant, Chelsey Riley learned her baby was going to be a girl. But she also found out her daughter had a 29 percent chance of having Trisomy 18.
"I had no idea what that even was. Everything that Google told us was incompatible with life and fatal," Riley said.
Riley said at another appointment that she had gained hope when no signs of the disorder were found in an ultrasound. She said that hope quickly disappeared as medical professionals left her thinking the worst.
"He told me — Trisomy 18 is fatal. You do understand that, and the most compassionate thing that you can do for this fetus is to terminate this pregnancy," she said