A baby doctors said only had a 5% chance of survival is now a healthy, happy four-year-old boy. Max Staines was born with gastroschisis, meaning his organs were formed outside of his body. His mother, Lauren Staines, was encouraged to have an abortion, but she refused, and now sees Max as her miracle.
In an interview with The Mirror, Staines spoke about how she became unexpectedly pregnant. “We’d been in a relationship for a couple of years but Max’s dad didn’t want to have a baby so I decided to go ahead with the pregnancy on my own,” she said. But at her 12-week ultrasound, she was told something was wrong.