Mother plans to carry terminally-ill baby to full term so she can donate her organs

Couple want baby to 'give life to multiple people through organ donation'

Keri and Royce Young found out their baby had fatal anencephaly when they went for an ultra-sound scan at 19 weeks (Keri Young/Facebook)

An American mother has decided to carry her terminally-ill baby to full term so she can donate the little girl's organs.

Keri and Royce Young, from Oklahoma, found out their baby had fatal anencephaly when they went for an ultra-sound scan at 19 weeks.

"She has perfect feet and perfect hands. She has perfect kidneys, perfect lungs and a perfect liver. Sadly, she doesn't have a perfect brain," she wrote on Facebook.

"We found out recently she has anencephaly and is terminal."

'She has perfect feet and perfect hands. She has perfect kidneys, perfect lungs and a perfect liver. Sadly, she doesn't have a perfect brain' (Keri Young/Facebook)

The birth defect, in which the baby is born without a fully developed brain, is typically fatal within hours of birth.

Instead of inducing an early pregnancy, they decided to continue the pregnancy so their daughter's organs could be donated.

"Faced with terrible options we have decided to continue the pregnancy to full term so Eva, which literally means life, can grow strong and give life to multiple people through organ donation," Mr Young added.

“This was not an easy decision. For the next 20 weeks I will feel her kick, have the hiccups and we'll be able to hear her perfect heart beating all while knowing we'll only get a few short hours with her when she's born.”

Doctors told the couple Eva's heart valves would be eligible for donation, along with her kidneys, liver and possibly pancreas.

They were also told they could donate her lungs for research.

The baby is due to be born around 7 May.

Ms Young wrote: "Eva will have life even though it will be short. She'll donate anything she can and do more in her time on earth than I ever will."

She added: "This is not over for us. We'll almost assuredly have doubts on if we're actually doing the right thing. Or if we can even handle this.

"May 7th is far away. Please continue to think and pray for us."

The couple have continued to share updates about their daughter on Facebook.