Annie shares how in July 2025 when she went for her 20 week scan her world stopped when she and her partner were told their baby wasn’t growing properly because she had Spina Bifida. After many specialist appointments, the couple made the tough decision to have a termination for medical reasons (TFMR) as they felt it was the best thing to do for their little girl. Annie gave birth to their baby girl Rosie in August 2025. 

The couple wanted to carry on their dream of having a family and Annie also shares how she felt guilty and worried that people would judge her. Once she came to terms with the fact that she wasn’t trying to replace baby Rosie, she was trying to have another baby, she tried again. In October 2025 she fell pregnant and discovered she was having a little boy who was born in June 2026. 

Please be aware that Annie has chosen to share a picture of herself with her baby girl Rosie alongside her story. 

In March 2025, we found out we were pregnant. We decided in January we would start trying so this felt amazing that things had happened so quickly. This was my first baby and my partners third. 

As the pregnancy progressed everything seemed normal. I had the usual symptoms of tiredness and nausea, and my bump was growing nicely. 

We went for our 20 week scan on 17th July. It was the day my world stopped. We were told our baby wasn’t growing properly as she had Spina Bifida. Over the next few weeks, we had many different appointments with different doctors and we saw specialists. The hardest part was knowing it was severe, but not how severe the condition was for my girl. In the end, we made the tough decision to terminate the pregnancy. This broke our hearts but we felt it was the best thing to do for her. During this time, we were trying to gather as much information as possible and I found the resources from Sands about termination for medical reasons (TFMR) so helpful. 

I gave birth to our baby girl on 6th August 2025. It was such a sad day. I got to meet my daughter, but I knew she wasn’t coming home with us. The months following were the hardest thing we have ever had to go through. 

As tough as it was dealing with losing our baby and all the emotions that came with it, we had decided that we still wanted to carry on our dream to have a family together. This brought up so many feelings, mainly feeling guilty for me. I felt like people would judge me for trying again so quickly and think that I was trying to replace the baby we had lost. Once I came to terms with the fact I wasn’t replacing my baby, I was trying to have another baby, I felt like it was okay to go on and try. 

In October 2025, I found out I was pregnant for the second time. We were so happy, but this now brought so many different feelings and so much anxiety. We were offered lots of extra help including extra scans. It was lovely to see our baby but going into the scan room made me so anxious. It wasn’t until 16 weeks when we had an early scan to check for Spina Bifida that I felt I could relax slightly. We were told that everything was okay with this baby and found out that we were having a boy. 

The rest of the pregnancy went by smoothly, I felt less anxious but there was always some worry that something awful was going to happen and I wouldn’t get to bring my baby home.

On 13th June 2026, my little boy, Tommy, was born, and we are all so in love with him. There still isn’t a day that passes that I don’t think about my girl Rosie and that she should be with us, but without her I wouldn’t have Tommy. 

Back in September 2025, I signed up to do Walk 100km in September for Sands. I felt part of the community and like the money I raised could help other families in a situation like mine. I hope to raise more money this year.