By Pat Centner, AFAJ staff writer
January 2002 – As her voice travels hundreds of miles across the telephone lines, there are tears in her words. “It’s been really rough. It was just a bad dream. I felt that way – that I would wake up and it wouldn’t be real.”
But it was real. And when Melissa Lanpher of Beaumont, Texas, discovered in her eighth month of pregnancy that her baby girl had a deadly chromosomal abnormality, she and her husband Steve faced one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. Their infant had been diagnosed with holoprosencephaly, a condition where there is more fluid than brain tissue in the cranial cavity. The baby had other problems as well. She only had tiny buds for lungs, one kidney, bilateral clubfeet and no amniotic fluid.
Based on her physician’s practice to limit the use of sonograms, Melissa had not had one since early in the pregnancy. At seven months, the couple went for a three-dimensional sonogram in Wichita, Kansas, (their home at the time) to learn their baby’s sex.They were told the baby was a girl and very small for that stage of pregnancy. In a later visit to their family physician, another sonogram was ordered, and the Lanphers were referred to a maternal-fetal specialist who gave them devastating news about their baby.
They were given three choices: 1) to terminate the pregnancy through abortion, 2) to induce labor immediately, or 3) to carry the baby to full term. Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita abortionist known nationwide for his late-term abortions, consulted with the Lanphers. They were also contacted by Tammy Schafer, a registered nurse on staff at Choices Medical Clinic (Choices), a pro-life medical clinic located next door to Dr. Tiller.
“Because I’m Catholic, but also because I just couldn’t do it, I chose not to abort the baby,” says Melissa. “Until you’re actually faced with a situation like this, you don’t really know what you’ll do. But when we talked to Tammy at Choices, she was so great, so supportive and caring.”
Tammy told the Lanphers about the Perinatal Hospice provided by Choices where Melissa could receive ongoing medical care and emotional support through the natural birth and death of the child.
“We knew it was going to be hard, but we decided to work with Choices and carry our baby to full term,” says Melissa. “I had carried her for eight months, and I felt a great need to honor this baby by giving her life, however brief. Without the incredible care and support of our perinatologist, Dr. Van Reid Bohman, and the wonderful people at Choices, we couldn’t have made it. They helped make a really difficult situation a little bit easier” she continues.
“Our little girl, Sierra, was born on April 27, 2001 [at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita]. She weighed three pounds and miraculously lived 1-1/2 hours. She really was a miracle because she had no lungs. Tammy was there with the doctors when Sierra was born, and relatives who traveled from far away to witness her birth were allowed in the room immediately afterward. Tammy took pictures and made moldings of Sierra’s tiny hands and feet ... and now, I look at her picture every single day.”
Choices
How did a place like the Perinatal Hospice at Choices Medical Clinic come into being? It’s quite a story.
Tim Wiesner, Executive Director and nurse practitioner, explained that Choices was originally built as a life-giving alternative to Dr. George Tiller’s Wichita abortion clinic. Providentially, the property next to Tiller’s clinic was sold in 1993 to someone in the pro-life movement, and that action prompted the idea for a medical clinic that would offer life, rather than death, for the babies of women considering abortion.
Wiesner came on board in 1997 and spent the next two years coordinating efforts to demolish the run-down house on the property and raising funds for the clinic’s construction. It opened in 1999.
“We’re thankful to God for the opportunity we’ve been given to offer life to many desperate, struggling women,” says Wiesner, “and we’ve been very successful. We help women avoid abortion by providing them with prenatal medical care that includes 3-D sonograms, social services, education, and adoption information. Since we’re donor-supported, all these services are provided free of charge.”
Wiesner and a registered nurse make up the staff of Choices, but an entire team of volunteer doctors, nurses and social workers from local hospitals specialize in offering confidential, compassionate care while helping mothers and families make God-honoring, life-affirming decisions.
The Perinatal Hospice was begun when Wiesner and Choices medical director Scott Stringfield, M.D. learned about the concept from Dr. Byron Calhoun, a perinatologist (specialist who treats infant disorders resulting in death) with Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Although there are several perinatologists nationwide, there are apparently hospices in only three cities — Wichita, Tacoma and Kansas City.
“A perinatal hospice is like a regular hospital in reverse,” says Wiesner. “We start working with the baby before birth, rather than after. Our perinatologists provide parents with precise diagnoses and let them know exactly what they can expect in the future. This enables them to notify loved ones and make arrangements for religious and funeral services far ahead of time, if they choose. The fact that doctors and nurses are only a phone call away at any time is comforting, and support groups are there to help parents make it through the tough times.
“Many people question why parents would ‘put themselves through so much grief’ in a situation like this,” says Wiesner, “but what they fail to think about is that this little baby is going to die, no matter what. So rather than kill it, why not preserve the sanctity of life and let it be born and live as long as God ordains?”
Celebrating life
Chrissi Beck couldn’t agree more. This Wichita mother was 17 weeks pregnant when a sonogram revealed that her baby son had anencephaly (the absence of cranial and brain tissue) and would live briefly, if at all, after birth. After a second physician confirmed the diagnosis, Chrissi was in complete shock. But her friend, Judy, a volunteer at Choices, told her about the Perinatal Hospice and the professional, loving care she would receive as a patient.
“It was like, ‘I have to go there,’” Chrissi remarks. “I walked into the clinic and Tammy Schafer was sitting behind the desk. She was so compassionate as she shared information about the hospice.” Tammy also encouraged Chrissi to talk with Mark and Elaine Hobson, a couple who had carried their anencephalic baby boy to full term. Sadly, little Timothy died shortly after birth.
“The Hobsons’ courage and determination were so inspiring to me, and I left them with new hope,” Chrissi continues. “I knew I wanted to have this baby, and I began to learn all I could about anencephaly so I could give Brenden every possible chance to be born alive and live as long as possible.”
One thing she learned was that having Brenden by Caesarean section would enhance his chances for a live birth. “Although it would be harder for me, I felt this would be the only chance I would ever have to make a sacrifice for my baby,” she explains. So, on February 8, 2001, Chrissi was wheeled into the operating room at Via Christi and shortly after, Brenden came into the world with a lusty cry.
“So many caring people were there for us, and none of it would have been possible without Choices. As I was wheeled down the corridor, doctors, nurses, family members, and friends lined the hallway, all of them laughing and smiling through their tears. It was a beautiful celebration of life, and something I will never forget as long as I live.”
Little Brenden lived 14 hours. His mother proudly recalls that while he was yet in her womb, and for the few short hours he lived outside it, “he touched so many hearts and lives.” 
If you’re considering abortion and see no other way out, or if your baby has a lethal anomaly and you’d like the name of a perinatologist near you, call Choices at 800-879-7451 or visit www.choicesmc.org
