baby feetWhen Brooke and Paul welcomed their baby boy, Jasper, into the world, they were overjoyed and elated just like any new parents would be. And even though their new son was born premature because he wasn't developing properly in the womb, they hoped for the best after his birth.

Unfortunately, Jasper continued to grow at a slower rate than normal, but his physicians just couldn't seem to get to the bottom of what was slowing down his growth. Doctors ran test after test after test -- and then just after he started kindergarten, they finally reached a diagnosis. Jasper has something called Fanconi anaemia, which is a genetic disorder that ultimately leads to cancer. Most patients with the disease don't live past 30 years old.

And the worst part is, there is no cure, and the only thing that would possibly save Jasper is a bone marrow transplant.

But with it being incredibly difficult to find a donor match after being put on a transplant list, Jasper's parents realized they were at a crossroads -- especially after learning that umbilical cord blood from a sibling was the most likely match for someone with his disorder.

Jasper was Brooke and Paul's first baby -- so I'm sure you can guess where things went from here. They weighed the pros and cons over having another baby simply in the hopes of saving Jasper's life -- all while knowing there was a possibility that their second child could be born with Fanconi anaemia too.

As it turns out, Brooke wound up becoming pregnant before they went through with IVF to conceive. And when Jasper's baby sister, Molly, was born, she turned out to be a perfect match for the bone marrow transplant, and thankfully, she does not have Fanconi anaemia.

There won't be an actual transplant until Jasper tests positive for bone marrow failure. And when he does -- he'll credit his little sister's cord blood with saving his life.

And after hearing this story, I asked myself the question of whether or not I'd consider having another baby if it meant saving my own son's life. The answer came to me in a matter of seconds -- yes, of COURSE I would.

Yeah, yeah -- I know it's kind of controversial to have another kid for the sake of trying to save the one you already have, but I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I knew having another baby could provide him with a shot at a happy life -- and I didn't at least try. I can't imagine my life without that little boy, and I'd do ANYTHING, yes ANYTHING if it meant keeping him here on this earth with me.

And of course, any baby is a miracle no matter how you look at it, so even if the main reason for having another child was to save my first, it would still be another human being that I would love unconditionally and do exactly the same thing for if he/she were sick, and so on and so forth.

Honestly, I don't know how any parent can even question this one.

Do you agree? Or do you think having another child in the hopes of saving a sibling is too risky?


Image via deanj/Flickr