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Couple Chooses Life and Sextuplets

By Peter J. Smith

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, June 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Minnesota couple welcomed the birth of all six of their sextuplets at St. Luke’s Hospital in Minneapolis yesterday, although the couple’s and their childrens’ story would have been far different if doctors had their way.

"The babies arrived sooner than we'd hoped for, but we are optimistic," father Ryan Morrison said in a statement. "Brianna is doing well. Thanks to all who are praying for our family. We are very happy to be parents."

After 22 weeks, Brianna Morrison gave birth to four boys and two girls just before midnight Sunday. All six remain in critical condition and weigh between 11 ounces and 1 pound, 3 ounces. The couple named the boys Bennet Ryan, Tryg Benton, Lincoln Sean and Sylas Christopher. They named the girls Lucia Rae and Cadence Alana.

Ryan and Brianna Morrison, both 24, had spent more than a year trying to conceive, until Brianna began taking the fertility drug Follistim.

The story of the Morrison’s six little “blessings”, as they call them, would have been different if they had followed the advice of doctors. After learning Brianna was carrying sextuplets, doctors strongly recommended “selective reduction”, a common euphemism for selective abortion, emphasizing they believed the potential risks were too great.

"However, we knew right away that this is not an option for us," the couple wrote on their website. "We understand that the risk is high, but we also understand that these little ones are much more than six fetuses. Each one of them is a miracle given to us by God."

Back in May, LA Times reporter Dan Neil revealed he and his wife decided to abort selectively two of their unborn quadruplets at 15 weeks on the similar advice of doctors. Neil said the procedure was a “medical imperative” and that they would “have to lose two to keep two.” He held his wife’s hand as he watched the doctor inject potassium chloride into the heart of one son, and then the other.

“As we listened to the sound of those six beating hearts I felt crushed by the weight of the miracle that was bearing down on me,” wrote Ryan Morrison, feeling “swallowed up by a life-changing act of God.”

Despite having just a small 2 bedroom apartment, and only one crib, car seat and stroller, the Morrison’s decided in “those moments of utter confusion” to embrace all their unborn “blessings” and trust in the providence of God.

“Truly God would sustain us in this just as He has sustained us in everything we’ve ever experienced. He will bring the lives of these babies to full health and fruition and everyone will say, ‘Look, God has done something amazing!’”

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