2024 Mother’s Day Appeal

What if you were told it might not be possible for you to have a child? What if one day someone was able to help you make the impossible, possible?  

The birth of Kerryn and Emerson’s baby boy, Lenny, was made possible thanks to the team at Mercy Perinatal.  

Mercy Perinatal’s three pillars of clinical care, research and education, meant specialists were able to look deeper into what could be achieved with their help.  

Rather than accepting that it wouldn’t be possible, the Mercy Perinatal team used their expertise to help Kerryn and Emerson become parents… to make their dream a reality… 

Kerryn was born with MURCS association, a rare condition which affected the development of her reproductive system and other organs. Throughout her childhood she had many surgeries to correct the anatomical abnormalities she was born with. Even after these procedures, Kerryn’s parents were given little hope that she would ever be able to conceive and carry a child. All parents want the best for their child, including a happy and healthy life.  

Kerryn didn’t know that, years later, she would meet her now husband, Doctor Emerson Keenan, who works as a researcher in fetal monitoring at Mercy Hospital for Women (MHW). Together, they embarked on a journey to find out if Kerryn could conceive or even carry a child with the aid of the latest advancements in clinical care.  

They were given hope by the team at Mercy Perinatal, located at MHW. It took a collective effort of paediatric specialists who had known Kerryn since she was a child, to IVF clinicians and gynaecologists as an adult. 

Professor Sue Walker AO, Mercy Perinatal Co-Director and Maternal Fetal Medicine sub-specialist first met with Kerryn in 2022.  

“At the initial consultation, we gathered all the information about Kerryn’s condition from the specialists who had treated her throughout her life. There were uncertainties about whether Kerryn would be able to conceive and safely carry her baby to term, but we had a terrific partnership with all her treating specialists,” Prof Walker says.  

Prof Walker and the Mercy Perinatal team worked out a plan for Kerryn and the steps she would need to take to begin her journey.  

With the hard work of a team of gynaecologists, obstetricians and IVF specialists, Kerryn was able to realise her dream…something she was told was likely not possible…she was able to become pregnant.  

But, due to Kerryn’s complicated history, her and her baby would need close and ongoing monitoring by the team at Mercy Perinatal.  

Imagine spending hours at a hospital, seeing specialists and clinicians every week… this is the sacrifice Kerryn made to bring her dream to life. 

Dreams like Kerryn’s, and those of thousands of other women, are why Mercy Perinatal are passionately working to make the dream of motherhood a reality for everyone… 

You can help more people like Kerryn to become a mother.  Please will you donate today to make the gift of life possible for babies like Lenny.  

Doctor Hannah Skrzypek is a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at Mercy Perinatal. Her background as an Obstetrician allows her to be a go-between for other specialists in the Maternal Medicine Clinic.  

This clinic is made up of a team of midwives, sonographers, cardiologists, obstetric medicine physicians and obstetricians, as well as counselling and administrative support teams.  

Every member of the team is bringing their knowledge and expertise from their specialty area to provide the highest possible care for women and their babies. 

Please invest in this multidisciplinary team who provides comprehensive counselling and pregnancy care, obstetric imaging, fetal monitoring, and prenatal procedures by giving to Mercy Perinatal.  

Prof Walker’s work at Mercy Perinatal involves creating capacity in the domains of complex high risk pregnancy care, teaching, sub-specialty training and research.   

Dr Skrzypek, Prof Walker and a team of Maternal Medicine Clinic specialists have been part of the long journey for Kerryn to even consider carrying a pregnancy.  

“We needed to consider Kerryn’s care in pregnancy by doing extra tests due to the conditions she was born with. We had to try and pre-empt any concerns that might arise in the pregnancy,” Dr Skrzypek says. 

The Mercy Perinatal Maternal Medicine Clinic operates every Monday, where women have up to four appointments seeing the different specialists in the team to monitor the health of their baby, and themselves. 

Please donate to our Mother’s Day Appeal. By donating you’ll be funding world-leading clinical care, research and education. 

Kerryn spent hours at the clinic seeing specialists fortnightly and as her pregnancy progressed, she visited the clinic weekly. But, without the support of the team of specialists at Mercy Perinatal, Kerryn may not have been able to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother.  

They say it takes a village to raise a child, it’s taken an entire medical team for Kerryn to conceive, carry and birth her baby.  

“Kerryn and Emerson were amazing to work with. We were all so excited to work together… making a plan, and carefully progressing each step to help realise their dreams for parenthood.  But I couldn’t be more delighted for this lovely couple to welcome Lenny into the world. He’s a very special Mercy Perinatal baby,” Prof Walker says.  

The team at Mercy Perinatal live and breathe their mission every day – clinical care, research and education – please will you donate? 

“Every couple who have had a difficult journey in their pregnancy, to become pregnant or who have had difficult time with their health prior to pregnancy, often becoming a mother is a big dream that they once didn’t think was possible.  

“It’s just a joy to see women get to the end of that journey and see them have a healthy baby at the end of it all,” Dr Skrzypek says.  

Help give babies like Lenny, the best kickstart to life by donating $50 to fund the first nine months of pregnancy, birth and beyond. 

Baby Lenny was born in March, and his parents are delighted. They cannot wait to see Lenny grow into the little person he is. Afterall, Kerryn and Emerson have pictures of Lenny from an embryo! Lenny is truly treasured by his parents and family.  

Baby Lenny is also part of the family at Mercy Perinatal – a group of extremely special people who have made his life possible.  And life is the greatest gift of all. 

Make every Mother’s Day possible – donate now.