'We're so lucky to get the chance to do it again': Charlie Gard's parents announce they're pregnant
Three years ago, 11-month-old Charlie Gard’s heartbreaking story made headlines around the world.
He was born with a rare progressive mitochondrial disease, which left British doctors declaring there was nothing more they could do to help the baby.
His parents Connie and Chris embarked on a difficult and long legal campaign in a bid to take him for experimental treatment in the US.
The couple lost their battle and Charlie passed away in July 2017.
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The campaign gained a huge amount of support in the UK and supporters will be pleased to know that Connie and Chris are now expecting a baby girl.
Speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning, the couple shared their wonderful news as they reflected on their court case.
Speaking of the legal battle, Connie commented: “It was a complete bubble. It was so stressful, I can’t even put it into words. Incredibly hard. When I left hospital I was only five stone something.
“You always think that you could’ve done more… when you look back at things.”
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Despite their exceptional efforts, they felt overwhelmed with the legal system from the beginning.
The pair couldn’t afford a lawyer so were left representing themselves.
Chris explained: “We didn’t know how the legal system worked. If we knew what we know now we might have stood a better chance… Against the biggest legal brains in the system we were just swamped.”
It wasn’t just the ordeal of losing Charlie and the court case they had to deal with, either.
Trolling dominated their lives after Charlie passed away – Chris said that somebody texted Connie to call Charlie “worm food” 10 minutes after their son had passed away.
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Together the pair have started to rebuild, and now, with the positive news that they’re expecting a baby girl, their relationship will only get stronger.
“[The new pregnancy] was hard, because you have to have all of the genetic testing done,” Connie said. “So it was quite an anxious time at first. Getting our heads around it, it’s bittersweet, definitely.”
They had to wait an agonising 11 weeks for the test results, which luckily came back fine.
Connie decided to share the news of her pregnancy with Chris at Charlie’s grave, which the couple refer to as their son’s “forever bed”.
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“It was beautiful,” Chris said. “Of course I was delighted. My immediate thought was worry again, because I thought if it happens again, I don’t know what it would do to this woman here [Connie]. She’s been through hell with what happened with Charlie.
“I kind of feel the same as when Connie was pregnant with Charlie. Throughout the whole pregnancy I was worried, ‘Would I be able to bond with him?’... The split-second I saw him, he was beautiful and all of those worries I had disappeared.
“But now with the new pregnancy, because I love Charlie so much… I can’t imagine ever loving a little baby like I did him and I’m sure, once again, that once baby is born all of those fears and worries will disappear.”
He concluded: “We’ve got a lot of love to give. Charlie was taken from us through this cruel disease… and we’re so lucky to get the chance to do it again.”
