Social media was flooded this week with a story about a baby born holding the very device that should have prevented his birth. The story shows an image of the child holding his mother’s IUD.
An IUD, or “intrauterine device,” is a form of reversible birth control that can last anywhere from 3 to 12 years, depending on the type of device. The small device is often shaped like the letter ‘T’ and is inserted into a woman’s uterus. Full fertility typically returns immediately after a woman has the device removed. IUD’s are typically 99.9% effective at preventing pregnancy. Little Dexter represents that other 0.1%.
It turns out that Dexter was not technically born holding the device. What is truly impressive about the story is that the device was still in the mother’s womb after doctors assured her it had fallen out. Doctors found the device, which should have been functional, behind the placenta during his birth. His mother, Lucy Hellein, took a picture of her miracle baby holding the device.
She posted the image above along with the message “Mirena fail!” to Instagram.
Mirena is a common IUD brand. ‘This was actually my third Mirena, my first two worked great. I had this one inserted back in August,” Hellein told Metro. “I found out I was pregnant in December and I’ll admit I was scared because of the Mirena. I assumed I was only a few weeks along, but the ultrasound confirmed that I was already 18 weeks along. My Mirena was nowhere to be found on ultrasound so my OB assumed that it had fallen out, but I wasn’t convinced.”
Hellein says that although Dexter was unplanned, he was absolutely wanted. “Dexter was definitely meant to be. His original due date was May 4th and even the doctor said ‘the force was strong with this one’. Although he wasn’t planned, my family and I feel incredibly blessed.” May the fourth is considered Star Wars Day because of the date’s similarity to the film’s iconic line of dialog “may the force be with you.”
Hellein and her partner are already proud parents and she decided to go on birth control a few years ago. While she’s happy to bring little Dexter into the family, Hellein went ahead and had her Fallopian tube removed to “shut down her baby factory” for good.
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