Sajjona's Story: Six-Year-Old With Trisomy 18 Is Thriving

She lives her life as a human being, not as her diagnosis.

When Heidi Murphy was 47 years old, she began experiencing some health complications. What she thought was the start of menopause was instead an unexpected pregnancy. Despite the initial shock, Heidi and her husband were elated to be bringing a beautiful new life into the world. 

During the first ultrasound around 15 weeks, the technician told the expecting parents that there was something wrong with their baby, evident by a surplus of fluid around the little one's head. When talking to the doctor, who was not yet sure what the diagnosis was, they were told that “they deserve a good life” and so they should have an abortion. To Heidi and her husband, the doctors seemed to imply that having a child with a disability would constitute a life less than “good” for their marriage and five children at home. 

Although Heidi and her husband made it abundantly clear to various doctors and physicians that they would not have an abortion, the pressure to abort their child persisted. One high risk specialist tried especially hard to convince Heidi to have an abortion. “Your other children are going to resent this baby,” the individual said. “This will ruin your marriage.”  

The problem, in their eyes, was a supposedly difficult life for the Murphy family. The “solution” they proposed was to end the life of an innocent child.  

After her continuous refusals, Heidi was told that the child she was carrying was incompatible with life, and that she, too, would die if she followed through with giving birth.

When their beautiful daughter Sajjona was born, they were informed that she had Trisomy 18, a rare condition in which babies are born with three copies of chromosome 18 instead of two. The doctor said they would be lucky if she lived past two weeks old.

Yet despite the diagnosis, the moment Sajjona was born, the Murphys’ lives were instantly changed for the better as their journey of joy, laughter, and immense happiness was just beginning.

Unfortunately, at the same time, the disregard for Sajjona’s life among doctors and medical staff was far from over. 

When Sajjona was a month old, a nurse let her oxygen levels drop to a dangerously low level and stood by watching as the little girl gasped for air, fighting for her life. By the grace of God, Sajjona made it through. At a five-month checkup, a doctor looked at Heidi and stated flat-out, “I don't know why you did what you did. You should have let her die.” When examining the progress Sajjona had made, a neurologist remarked, “You know these kids die, right?” Heidi’s first thought: We all die one day, so why was the time Sajjona had on this earth – no matter how long or short – any less valuable?  

Now, six years later Sajjona is defying all prior medical predictions – and has poured more joy into the Murphy family than they could ever imagine, bringing them closer together and teaching their older children the beauty of life. The older siblings and their own children do not shy away from those with disabilities. They would never treat them as less valuable, because they have learned from Sajjona that all life, no matter the challenges, is beautiful and worthy.  

While she certainly takes her life at her own speed, Sajjona is living the life of any other six-year-old with family and friends, wonderful adventures, and many smiles – all things that doctors said she would never do. She is growing and getting stronger every day. She lives her life as a human being, not as her diagnosis. 

Through various parent groups, Heidi has quickly learned that thousands of families across the country have children with Trisomy 18, children who were deemed “incompatible with life” and “should have been aborted.” Just like the other parents, for Heidi and her husband, the challenge has not been caring for their daughter but fighting to get other people in the medical field to care for her – and care about her.

Thankfully, Sajjona has a strong family who has not given up on her. They remain hopeful, determined, and full of love despite not knowing what the next day will bring. As Heidi notes, Sajjona’s diagnosis does not make her any less of a human being, or any less the beautiful child God gifted to the Murphy family.