At just 19 years old, Amy Belli was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome. A very rare disorder that affects a person’s blood cells, similar to Leukemia.
According to Today, when Belli was diagnosed, she had her whole life in front of her and a boyfriend who loved her.
Belli dreamed of one day becoming a mother, saying, “I always wanted to have kids, it was never really a question.”
However, when doctors informed Belli that she was in need of a bone marrow transplant in order to survive, her dreams of becoming a mother seemed distant:
“They had told me that it would most likely leave me infertile. They told me that I could freeze eggs.”
Another option, the better option, would be to freeze embryos.
However, despite the fact that she and her boyfriend had been dating for three years, they were still only teenagers.
Belli admits it was a difficult topic to discuss with her boyfriend, asking him if he would father her children. He explained to Today that after agreeing to create embryos with Belli, they had to get lawyers involved because of their age.
At the start of her treatment, Belli met a nurse named Denise Dubuisson. Belli and Dubuisson were close in age. She’s was her first patient since becoming an oncology nurse.
The two quickly became friends during Belli’s months-long stay in the hospital. And even after Belli was released, Dubuisson admits she never stopped thinking of her.
As Facebook friends, they followed each other’s journeys from afar. Little did either of them know their paths would cross again years later.
Belli and her then-boyfriend ended up staying together and getting married. They recently used one of their embryos to conceive a child.
After their son was born, Belli and her now-husband requested that Dubuisson be the nurse to care for their new bundle of joy.
Dubuisson had no idea that the woman she cared for so many years ago was at her hospital and it was their baby she was caring for.
Dubuisson told Today:
“I just couldn’t believe they were here, 10 years later, healthy, happy, and a baby.”
Belli and husband named their son, Lucas. And Dubuisson keeps in touch with them to visit Lucas regularly.
They now look at Lucas as the dream they were never sure would come true, until now.