In a heartbreaking case that sits at the center of America’s complex abortion laws, a baby has been born in Georgia under extraordinary and emotional circumstances.
The mother, Adriana Smith, had already been declared brain dead months earlier—but due to state law, doctors kept her body alive to try and save her unborn child.
Brain Dead But Still Carrying Life
Adriana Smith was just 30 years old when her life took a tragic turn.
Back in February, she was hospitalized after suffering severe headaches.
Doctors discovered she had multiple blood clots in her brain.
They attempted surgery to ease the pressure, but tragically, the procedure left her brain dead.
At the time, Adriana was eight weeks pregnant.
Normally, such a medical outcome would lead to a painful but immediate decision.
But Georgia’s strict abortion laws tied the hands of her doctors.
Georgia’s Law Meant Doctors Had to Keep Her Alive
Due to Georgia’s LIFE Act—short for the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act—medical professionals are banned from performing an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected.
Since Adriana’s baby still had a heartbeat, her medical team had no legal choice but to maintain her body on life support, hoping to sustain the pregnancy.
This law, enacted in 2019 and enforced after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, allows only limited exceptions—for instance, if the mother’s life is in immediate danger, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Baby Chance Is Born Prematurely
On Friday, June 13, Adriana’s baby was delivered via emergency Cesarean section.
Weighing just 1 pound, 13 ounces, the tiny boy arrived at only 26 weeks—roughly three months earlier than planned. His name? Chance.
“Because I feel like he had a second chance at life,” Adriana’s mother, April Newkirk, shared with local outlet 11 Alive.
Right now, Chance is in the NICU, and doctors are cautiously optimistic. “He’s expected to be OK,” April said.
“He’s just fighting. We just want prayers for him.”
Life Support Will Now Be Removed
With the baby now born, Adriana will be taken off life support.
Her journey—tragic, complex, and emotional—has sparked a national conversation about reproductive rights, medical ethics, and what “choice” really looks like when state laws intervene.
Family Faces Uncertainty, Emotion, and Mounting Costs
April Newkirk has been vocal about the heartbreak and the difficult decisions forced on their family.
She previously expressed that they would have preferred the option to terminate the pregnancy, noting the uncertainty surrounding the baby’s health and the emotional toll on everyone involved.
“She’s pregnant with my grandson. But he may be blind, may not be able to walk, may not survive once he’s born,” she said.
“This decision should’ve been left to us.”
She also spoke about the financial pressure—every day of care on life support only adds to their mounting hospital bills.
“Every day that goes by, it’s more cost, more trauma, more questions,” she said.
Legal Questions and Political Reaction
After public outcry, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr released a statement clarifying that the law does not mandate doctors to keep a brain-dead patient alive.
He said that turning off life support in such a case “is not an action with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy.”
However, that interpretation came too late for Adriana’s family.
The doctors were already operating under the weight of the law’s ambiguity, and the baby’s heartbeat meant they continued care.
A Case That Represents a Nation Divided
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 41 states have passed abortion restrictions, with 12 enforcing outright bans.
Adriana Smith’s story puts a human face to the real-life consequences of those laws.
Now, baby Chance fights for survival in a neonatal ICU, and his grandmother begins a new chapter—raising a child born out of tragedy, hope, and an incredibly difficult legal and medical landscape.