Mother's Instincts Tell Her Something's Off As She Realizes Her Newborn Looks Nothing Like Her

When 36-year-old Hannah Doyle realized that her newborn son looked nothing like her, she followed her instincts and took her concerns to doctors. And this led to a rather shocking discovery!

Hannah, of Halifax, West Yorkshire in England gave birth to baby Zander in the Fall of 2022.  But she’d become aware that her son had medical challenges well before his birth.

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At 26 weeks pregnant, Hannah was told by her doctor that Zander had two holes in his heart. Of course, this caused worry throughout the remainder of Hannah’s pregnancy, but that condition is treatable. However, when Zander was born, Hannah felt there was something more wrong with her infant. 

Hannah Doyle Relies On Mother's Instincts

When Hannah Doyle first held Zander to her body, trying to establish skin-to-skin contact, she felt there was something different with this child. Hannah already had three children at home.

"When I held him to do skin-to-skin contact, he was just different to my other babies and I instantly knew there was something different," she said.

She became further concerned when she noticed that Zander didn’t look like either her or his father. His eyes appeared to be very swollen, and they were a bit almond-shaped. He also had a raised pallet.  

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Initially, doctors and nurses assured Hannah that, aside from his heart condition, everything was fine with Zander. But, Hannah pushed for further testing, and she was right to do so. After more examination, Zander was diagnosed with Chromosome Deletion Syndrome. CDS is a very rare condition resulting from a loss of chromosomes. 

Zander has 5q15, and Hannah has been able to connect with only two other families elsewhere in the world that have children with similar syndromes.

Hannah shared, "That's the hardest thing because with any other medical condition, there's more answers. Particularly when I can't find anyone else with the same particular deletion that he's got missing so there's not even anyone else to compare him to.”

Life With Such A Rare Disorder

While Hannah Doyle knew that Zander would face medical challenges associated with his heart defect, she was very shocked to get the additional diagnosis after his birth. Hannah said, “It was a shock and it felt really daunting and really scary because your mind goes into overload and you just start thinking the worst. It was harder because there wasn't really much explanation to it.”

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Zander and his mom face some pretty scary things going forward, but Hannah is sharing with and learning from others along the way. She’s got great mom instincts and tremendous love for her beautiful boy. For now, Hannah says that Zander is a “happy little baby.”

We wish Hannah Doyle and her sweet boy all the best!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

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h/t: Tyla

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Tyla

Hally is a freelance writer, blogger, and mental health advocate. A former school counselor, Hally works for a nonprofit that distributes tax dollars to mental health and prevention education providers that serve her county's kids and families. She's a contributor to a devotional and two essay collectives, and she shares resources and wisdom regarding parenting teens, mental health, faith, adoption, and more at https://www.hallyjwells.com where she strives to "Dig Deep and Reach High." She and her husband have three adult children and one rascally beagle pup. Hally loves travel, her book club sisters, personality tests, and a great glass of iced tea.