Alfie and Louis

Two baby boys brought such joy and anticipation to their parents’ lives when they learned they were with child. Even before they knew if this child was a him or a her, they loved this little baby that the mothers each protected within her body.

Then, 2 baby boys were born. And both were welcomed again with joy and anticipation as to who this child would grow to be. And they were both so adorable and both so loved by their mother and father.

Alfie started to show signs of illness when he was about 7 months old and was hospitalized for his seizures and infections within his little body. Louis, only a few days old, is thankfully a healthy little guy. We pray he remains so for a very, very long time.

Alfie does not have a long time. It seems his brain is deteriorating which means he will go his eternal home very soon. But how soon remains to be seen. His parents were eager, even frantic, to take him to a children’s hospital in Rome where he might have a chance at a longer life with some extra medical assistance.

The Catholic hospital would help to prolong his life without suffering, which is what his parents desperately want. The judge in the UK thinks this is “futile” and so denies them the chance to take care of their baby as they see fit.

I have told my children for years that the worst thing I can say about a person is that he or she is “a bureaucrat.” That person who operates without compassion, without thinking what is helpful to the other who has come to him or her for assistance, that person who cannot think or reason for themselves and only follows the rules as they are recorded is a bureaucrat.

We were given minds to think and to reason and we have emotions to help us have compassion and empathy for others. When all of these things are muted or suppressed, we are left with a nightmare scenario such as Alfie’s parents are now experiencing.

And then we have Louis, the Royal couple’s newest addition. I cannot help thinking that they would be able to take their son wherever they felt necessary to get him help if his health situation were similar to little Alfie’s.

How I wish Princess Kate and Prince William would intervene on behalf of Alfie and his parents, Kate and James. If there is ever a time to use your stature and rank to help someone else, this would be it.

Rome’s hospital will take the child; Italy has granted him citizenship to ease the transport. See how easily and quickly things move along when hearts are involved as well as heads?

I am praying through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe for baby Alfie. He is almost 2 years old now. He’s been in a coma for a year plus. And his parents will never give up on him. There is a hospital and staff of doctors in Rome who will not give up on him. This whole proposed arrangement costs the British government nothing. I cannot understand why the request of the parents is being denied.

I cannot understand how a government can deny a parent this basic right of making a decision for their child’s life? When another government has smoothed the way, I see no reason to stay the movement to Italy.

Please join me in prayer for baby Alfie. Please let’s stand up for parents’ rights or we will slowly continue to see them be degraded. And then our children will not truly be ours. No one can love a child the way a parent does. No one will look out for a child’s best interests the way parents can. And the state won’t even try.

This is, indeed, a tale of two babies. And it is, indeed, “the best of times, the worst of times” in England.