It is something most parents will never have to experience. But for Fayetteville residents Lauren and Nick Bishop, the reality is that the rare condition suffered by their unborn son Ethan will end his life shortly after his birth.
Ethan has been diagnosed with a rare condition called anencephaly. It is a condition that left Ethan with no skull or brain and will lead to his immediate death, likely within minutes of birth, Lauren said.
Lauren will undergo a Caesarian section in mid-June. Waiting any longer would be to risk his death in the womb, said Lauren.
“It’s a random, terrible thing,” Lauren said of the anencephaly that occurs in approximately one in 10,000 pregnancies.
The family, including their 8-year-old son, are already going through something that most parents and most families never have to consider and never have to prepare for. That reality is driven home even more because most babies with anencephaly do not live more than a a few minutes, or at the most a few hours, after they are delivered, Lauren said.
“We’ve already grieved some. Right now we are in limbo. We’re numb,” Lauren explained. “But we know the worst grief is yet to come.”
Lauren is currently a stay-at-home mom who in recent years worked as a 911 dispatcher in both Fayette County and Fairburn. Nick is a firefighter with Fayette County and Peachtree City. Both Nick and Lauren have a history of working in areas where members of the community receive the help they provide. But today it is Lauren and Nick who need help from the community.
Lauren said the family is receiving needed assistance from Holly Hill Funeral Home in Fairburn and Cardinal Grave Services and from Jan’s Florist in Fayetteville. But other expenses related to Ethan’s expected passing are not covered. Those include the funds to purchase the required family burial plot and the funds that will be needed to cover living expenses so that Nick can spend time at home with Lauren after Ethan’s passing.
For more information visit the Hope for Ethan Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/HopeforEthanBishop.
Contributions to the family can be made through http://www.gofundme.com/2sn0pw.
Those unable to access the online site for donations can deliver a check to the Fayette County Emergency and Fire Services main office in the Fayette County government complex in downtown Fayetteville.
There will also be a 5K fundraiser on July 27 in Tyrone to benefit the family. Information for the event can be found at http://hopeforethan.eventbrite.com/#.
