“My husband Dallin and I decided if we have even two minutes with our son, we’re going to take the chance and carry him as long as we can,” Sue Butterworth said. “That’s all we hoped for. All we hoped for was just a minute or two minutes of him just taking a breath.”
Sue Butterworth was pregnant with her first child when she heard a nurse utter six heartbreaking words: “Your son is incompatible with life.”
The nurse gave the Butterworths two options: terminate the pregnancy with an early abortion or Butterworth could carry the baby as long as possible, hoping he would survive until birth.
Walter, her unborn son, was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a genetic defect that can entail many complications, including organs that develop outside of the body, in the wrong place or not at all. The baby is weak throughout the entire pregnancy and usually passes away.
Walter did eventually pass away, leaving his parents to mourn him. Sue Butterworth, a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, started a photo project to help cope with the pain, continually relying on her Savior and her husband for support.