A photo of a newborn baby holding his mom's IUD went viral. Netizens thought Dexter Tyler, born to Alabama mom Lucy Hellein, was born clutching the birth control device. The mother decided to speak up about what really happened as things got crazy on the internet.
Hellein shared her newborn's photo on Facebook on Friday, May 2, following her C-section a couple of days before. It showed her baby holding a Mirena-brand intrauterine birth control device (IUD) on one of his tiny hands. Metro reported the photo received 56,000 shares since posting but the post appeared to have been switched to private as of press time.
Speaking with First Coast News, Hellein said she never indicated her baby was born with her IUD despite what the public perceived. For her whole pregnancy, her doctors were aware she had an IUD. They found the device when they did her C-section and took it out as well.
When the family photographed Dexter, they thought of putting the IUD in his hands as a "tongue-in-cheek nod to conceiving while having an IUD in." She never imagined her baby's photo would go viral with an interesting story to boot.
A post shared by Lucy Hellein (@curlykittycrochet) on Apr 27, 2017 at 3:39pm PDT
Hellein also told Metro she used Mirena three times before getting pregnant. "I found out I was pregnant in December and I'll admit I was scared because of the Mirena." During ultrasound checkups, doctors couldn't locate her IUD and assumed it had fallen out until the scheduled C-section.
Mirena makers said their IUD had a 99 percent effective rate, via its official site. UCLA OBGYN Dr. Leena Nathan said via Snopes that it's unusual for doctors not to find IUDs in a woman's womb but it can happen. There are also some risks to being pregnant while the IUD is still inside.
Meanwhile, baby Dexter's original due date was supposedly May 4. His mom went in labor April 27, almost a week ahead of his schedule. "'Although he wasn't planned, my family and I feel incredibly blessed," Hellein said.
