Parents of baby who became UK’s youngest organ donor welcome little girl
Twin Teddy Houlston was just 100 minutes old when he died.
The parents of a baby who became Britain’s youngest organ donor have welcomed a little girl 10 years on.
Teddy Houlston was born with a fatal congenital brain condition in 2014 and lived just 100 minutes, while his twin brother Noah survived.
Teddy made history by becoming the country’s youngest ever donor and sparked a campaign calling for an opt-out system for donors.
His parents Jess, 37 and Mike, 39, from Cardiff, are now celebrating the birth baby of Bodhi, who Noah, 10, is ‘besotted’ with, said Jess.
The youngster has been desperate for a sibling for some time.
‘Every single night he would ask, “When can we have another baby?” He has always been missing something,’ Jess told the Mirror.
Although they never got to know each other, Noah still feels a connection with Teddy and will sometimes play a recording of his brother’s heartbeat, placed in the tummies of two bears, to Bodhi.
Jess said she has felt joy with Bodhi in a way she wasn’t able to with Teddy.
She added: ‘She is just amazing, I’m enjoying every second. She has Teddy’s mouth. When she is out for the count, her mouth wide open, she looks just like him. It’s nice, we only have so many minutes-worth of memories of him.’
Mike, 39, meanwhile, said Bodhi was like a missing piece of the puzzle and had brought a sense of wholeness to the family again.
He added: ‘Teddy will always be here, but with Bodhi it feels almost complete now. We say Noah has missing twin syndrome, he always needs company.’
Jess and Mike found out Teddy had anencephaly at the 12-week scan and would only survive a few hours outside the womb.
The couple decided to go ahead with the birth of both Teddy and Noah and donate Teddy’s organs after his death.
When the twins arrived the couple cuddled their sons and took photos. When Teddy died, specialist teams removed his heart vales and 3.8cm kidneys, which were given to an adult woman.
Mike and Jess shared their story with the Mirror in 2015 and the newspaper launched a campaign to change to the law that would make everyone potential organ donors unless they opt out.
In 2020, the opt-out system became law and was named the ‘Max and Keira Law’ after the heart of nine year-old Keira Ball, who died in a car crash, was donated to nine-year-old Max Johnson.
The families of Keira and Max had both campaigned for the change.
Under the new law, parents of anyone under 18 still need to give permission for their child’s organs or tissues to be donated.
The family of those over 18 will still be consulted before any donation takes place.
Mike, a technical manager, said some people might not understand what he and Jess did, but they feel lucky it happened the way it did.
He said Teddy had opened the door for many more organ donations.
Jess, who has a 12-year-old daughter, Billie, from a previous relationship, couldn’t face getting pregnant for a number of years after Teddy died, due to the risks.
Three miscarriages followed, before Jess gave birth to Bodhi in February.
But the pair feared tragedy might hit them again after their daughter developed an infection at just 12 hours old and became ‘nearly unresponsive’
She was put on drip and given antibiotics and a lumbar puncture.
A clear diagnosis was never given, but Bodhi thankfully recovered and is now doing well.
Mike said Noah is very proud of his little sister, often showing her off to his friends and visits her room every night for a cuddle.
But seeing how much Noah wanted another sibling, the couple began trying for a baby three years ago.
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