It Was Her Destiny
BY JAY HOBBS
A
child born Monday morning in a Miami hospital was given the perfect name by her mother : Destiny .
After all , it wasn ’ t just the baby girl ’ s lot to enter the world on an early March day ; she ’ s already brought her family together in ways she won ’ t realize for years to come .
It was mid-October , 2016 , when Destiny ’ s mother , Melissa , was told the news that her baby had been diagnosed with Noonan syndrome , a disorder that involves unusual facial characteristics , short stature , heart defects present at birth , bleeding problems , developmental delays , and malformations of the bones of the rib cage .
Already 21 weeks pregnant and with a husband and two children , Melissa was gripped with a fear she hadn ’ t felt when she was pregnant with her first two daughters .
To make matters worse , her mother immediately laid the pressure on her to abort her baby rather than put herself and her young family through the struggle of welcoming a child with a disability .
Melissa may well have succumbed to the pressure and aborted Destiny , but her sister , Joanna — a longtime partner of Heartbeat of Miami , a pro-life organization with four medical clinics in Miami — stepped forward and became a champion for her unborn niece .
Meeting her mother and sister at Heartbeat ’ s Hialeah location — where Jeanne Pernia , the clinic ’ s Director of Client Services , once ran an abortion clinic — Joanna met Destiny for the first time via 3-D ultrasound .
“ We all cried , we all laughed , we prayed and I really saw how God moved there and gave us that hope that she was going to continue with the pregnancy ,” Joanna said , noting that newborn Destiny ’ s heart is in good condition and she is stable overall . “ It ’ s just such a blessing to have come as far as last night , to see her full-term . To see her deliver today is just amazing .”
Martha Avila , Heartbeat of Miami ’ s executive director , said the family and staff were all shocked