SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (ABC4 News) - For expectant moms, it's one of the most common causes of miscarriage, but many women know nothing about it. Turner Syndrome, the diagnosis can be devastating for families, but now one Utah mom is trying to offer hope.
Her daughter, Meghan Stevenson, sounds like a typical teenager. She likes make-up and the Jonas Brothers, but says this is what makes her happy:
"When my friends tell me that I'm unique and I'm special and I'm not like many girls," Meghan says.
What Meghan has lived with her entire life is anything but typical. Meghan has Turner Syndrome. She is missing an X chromosome. She was diagnosed when her mother Sarah was twenty weeks pregnant.
"It was like, I have no idea what that is and I was in such shock when they told me. And what they did tell me, I didn't comprehend what they were saying," Stevenson says.
Turner Syndrome affects only females and can mean short stature, infertility and sometimes heart and kidney problems. For pregnant moms, seventy-five percent of the babies are stillborn. But Meghan survived.
"All through the pregnancy, all I kept thinking was I just want to hold her once. Whether she was alive or not made it to term, I just wanted the opportunity to hold her once. When that experience came true I looked at her and thought, you are my little miracle," Stevenson says.
Sarah Stevenson has now written a book that started as a collection of journal entries, to give other families hope. With Meghan's blessing of course.
"Honestly, I didn't know she was writing a book until she showed me the papers. She published them and I said, cool! I think it would be fun, so I let her publish it," Meghan says.
The book is about a little girl who while dealing with a tough condition has made everyone around her more compassionate and understanding. And for those reading, this book has a happy ending.
"I hope it makes them feel that although things can be hard in life, sometimes those really hard things can be some of the greatest things in your life," Stevenson says.
There are about seventy-five thousand girls in the United States living with Turner Syndrome. And there is a Turner Syndrome Society here in Utah. If you would like more information call 801-766-9521 or go to
www.turnersyndrome.org You can find Stevenson's book at
www.mapleleafcenter.com
