The doctors finished their examination, looked up at Maria’s parents, and said the words the family had been praying to hear.
He’s doing well. His heart is healthy. He is strong.
For most parents, that’s what you expect to hear. For this family, it was the end of a fear they had carried for nine months — and the end of something much longer than that.
Four years of fighting
Some of you have been standing with Maria since 2021.
Her parents knew something was wrong two days after she was born, when she struggled to feed and to breathe. A month of testing turned up complications in her intestines, lungs, heart, and kidneys. There was a twisted intestine that was life-threatening on its own. There was a narrowing of her aorta that was forcing her heart to work far too hard. There was pneumonia on top of all of it.
What followed were years most families never have to imagine: stomach surgery, an emergency catheterization that doctors gave low odds and that worked anyway, open heart surgery abroad, kidney surgery, months of tube feeding, and a special formula that wasn’t sold anywhere in Kurdistan — so volunteers carried a few months’ supply home in their luggage from abroad.
Along the way, a blood sample sent to Germany gave the family an answer they hadn’t been looking for: Maria has a rare genetic disorder.
Again and again, Maria has defeated the odds. And again and again, it was possible because people like you stood beside her.
The news nobody expected
Maria’s mother had been told she would never be able to have more children. The family had made peace with it. That chapter, they thought, was closed.
Then, all of a sudden, she found out she was pregnant.
It was beautiful news. It was also terrifying. Because of Maria’s diagnosis, doctors told them there was a real chance another child could face the same thing — and that a pregnancy would mean genetic testing, close follow-up, and possibly treatment along the way, depending on what the results showed.
So Love Them All stood beside them again.
Nine months of waiting
We helped with genetic testing. We helped send some of it abroad, where the expertise was. We helped with follow-up and stayed with the family through every step.
Some of the testing didn’t look good. There were long stretches of waiting, fear, and not knowing.
What we mean when we say “we”
It’s worth saying plainly. The reason Maria’s family was never left on their own is our local volunteers in Kurdistan.
They are the ones who stayed in touch with this family. Who sat with Maria’s parents. Who called the doctors and booked the appointments, went along to the testing, translated when the medical language got hard to follow, bought the medications, and paid for the tests.
They do this for Maria’s family and for many others — checking in with the families we already support, visiting new families to learn what each child needs, and working shoulder to shoulder with local doctors and medical teams.
When you support Love Them All, this is much of what you are supporting: people on the ground in Kurdistan, showing up for these families again and again, whether or not anyone is watching.
And then Nazar was born
Dr. Aso and the other doctors checked him carefully. Then they were able to say it: Nazar is doing well. His heart is healthy. He is strong.
For Maria’s parents, the relief was overwhelming. After everything they’d walked through — hospitals, surgeries, complications, fighting for their daughter’s life — they could finally breathe and say, “We don’t have to go through all of that again.”
Even this week, Nazar was sick, which is never fun for any baby or any parent. But for this family, an ordinary baby illness instead of a hospitalization is a gift.
That’s what hope looks like
It looks like a family who has cried a lot of tears finally getting to smile. It looks like a mother being able to breathe again. It looks like a baby boy being held, loved, and celebrated. It looks like Maria getting to be a big sister.
This is why Love Them All exists. We stand with families in the terrifying moments, when they don’t know what will happen next. We help with medical care, testing, travel, and medication so that children aren’t left behind simply because their cases are complicated.
And we get to stand with families in moments like this one — moments of joy, relief, and celebration.
Because of your support, we were able to stand with Maria. Because of your support, we were able to stand with her family through this pregnancy. Because of your support, we were able to make sure baby Nazar was tested, watched, and cared for.
And now we get to celebrate with them.
To everyone who has prayed, given, shared, encouraged, or stood with Love Them All: thank you. Thank you for helping us give children hope. Thank you for helping families breathe again. Thank you for being part of Maria’s story.
With so much love and gratitude,
Love Them All