Doctors Wanted to Abort Baby Carried by Disabled Woman Less Than 3-Feet Tall but She Trusted God
Born with a severe disability, no one thought she would be able to sit up, much less graduate from college, marry, and bear children.
But Melissa Davert's strong faith in God and his plans for her life proved all the doubters wrong.
"If I ever started to feel down or sad or sorry for myself my parents would say, 'Look, there's a reason and a purpose for your disability," Melissa says on a Facebook video. "'You might not know what it is now, but you will someday. You just have to have faith and trust in God and His plan.'"
Melissa grew up in a Christian home in Bay City, Michigan, one of seven children. She was born with a disability known as osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease. It results in bones that break easily, short height, loose joints, hearing loss, heart and breathing problems.
Melissa on skateboardDoctors prepared Melissa's parents for the possibility that she would never sit up on her own. But to their surprise, Melissa not only sat up, she found a skateboard and used her arms to move throughout the house before she got a wheelchair.
"My parents didn't set any limits on me and I didn't set any limits either," she notes on the video. "My entire family made sure I grew up self-determined, not to feel sorry for myself, with a good sense of humor and strong faith.
As a child she heard about God, but one evening she experienced Him in a personal way.
"One night I had a broken bone and I was laying in bed and prayed to God please help it be better. In the morning it was (better). It was a lot better. From then I realized He is here with me. Times will be tough but He will be here with me."
Melissa graduated from Bay City Central High School and then attended Northwood University where she earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.
Melissa's graduation from college (Facebook screen grab from Faith Video)Later, as an advocate for the disabled, she hosted a weekly TV program, Access Mid-Michigan, which aired on community television. She hosted the program while serving as the director of the Center for Independent Living in Midland, a position she held for more than 10 years.
Melissa and KenShe met and married her husband, Ken Davert, in 1992. Ken was born with cerebral palsy.
They never planned to have children because Melissa thought she could not conceive. Then they were surprised and excited to discover she was pregnant, but lost the baby at 12 weeks for unknown reasons.
They decided to try again. "The second time we found out we were going to have twins," she says.
Melissa's doctors, however, were less than enthusiastic. Medical books had no cases where a woman Melissa's size – two-feet eleven inches – had ever delivered twins. One significant concern was that the twins might grow up into Melissa's heart and lungs, causing her to suffocate.
Several doctors proposed that Melissa abort one of the babies. They suggested a test to determine if either baby had Melissa's disability. They advised her to abort (kill) the baby with the disability.
