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MELBOURNE, Australia, June 23, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Overcoming medical odds and offering an example of strength, a young Australian mother with serious health issues has welcomed a healthy child into the world.

Although 25-year-old Terry and her husband Zachary were told Terry would never have children because of her health, they are now proud parents of a baby son named Matthew, DailyMail.com reports, proving wrong the experts who declined to support Terry’s pregnancy.

The young mother suffered from two forms of cancer as a child; spinal cord cancer, which stunted her growth and left one arm paralyzed, and brain cancer, diagnosed at age 14, making the birth of her child especially poignant.

“It's a lifelong dream and it's wonderful to have it now,” Terry told a local news station.

The couple were childhood sweethearts who wanted to start a family right away after they wed, however the doctors told them not to have children due to the health risks for Terry, something they found upsetting.

When they did become pregnant, Terry was experiencing low lung capacity and had benign brain tumors as well as malignant spinal tumors, prompting doctors to say they were not supportive of the pregnancy.

But Terry found in Doctor Sue Walker medical and moral support for the remainder of her time awaiting Matthew’s arrival.

Walker, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The University of Melbourne and Director of Perinatal Medicine for Royal Women’s Hospital/Mercy Hospital for Women, saw them through, and her experience with Terry led her to offer praise for Terry’s bravery and resolve, and say the young mom is a model for offering hope.

“She taught us as much as we gave her, about the power of courage and determination,” stated Walker. “I think Terry is a wonderful example of what's possible.”

The young couple is now thinking about expanding their family further.