The perfect son doctors advised us should be aborted

Warned of the likelihood of severe disability, they were advised to consider an abortion.

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Appalled by the notion, and with a gut feeling that the doctors might be wrong, they decided go ahead with the pregnancy.

And in an outcome that shows how parental instinct can sometimes triumph over expert opinion, they have been rewarded with a healthy, 7lb 9oz boy, Jake.

As they celebrated the arrival of their first child, the couple told of their ordeal and its happy ending.

It began in March when Miss O'Connor, an insurance claims adviser, was referred to a specialist at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester over concerns about her unborn baby's development.

She and her 24-year-old partner Jamie Bramley were told ultrasound scans suggested a rare condition called agenesis of the corpus callosum, in which part of the brain does not develop.

Sufferers can lead a normal life, but it can cause serious problems.

"The specialist warned us the baby may end up brain-dead or severely disabled," said Mr Bramley.

"They said that the scan was 99 per cent reliable and recommended abortion.

"We were distraught. I asked for further investigations, but the doctor said he was rarely wrong."

For a second opinion, they went to Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield and were told results of an MRI scan suggested the brain was developing normally.

But back at St Mary's, successive consultants told them they still feared a crucial part was missing.

"It was all very distressing," said Mr Bramley, an archivist at a solicitors' firm.

"We were more confident after seeing the expert at Sheffield, but because of the views from St Mary's, there was always an awful doubt in our minds. But I had a gut feeling that Jake would be okay."

Jake was born at their local hospital in Stockport on July 11, and tests show his brain has developed normally. The couple believe other parents may have opted for abortions based on doctors' gloomy prognoses when they too might have had a healthy child.

"You didn't know who to believe," said Miss O'Connor, 19. "But after our experience, maybe other people will not give up hope if something similar happens."

Her mother, Debbie, said: "When Jake was born we were all looking at him, thinking we were advised to get rid of him, and yet he is perfect. The turmoil that Heather and Jamie and the rest of the family have been through has been awful."

The authority which runs St Mary's said that in cases where there was a suspected abnormality, doctors took great care to give parents the facts to enable them to make an informed decision.

"We have a duty of care to make patients aware of the option of a legal termination, however we would not actively recommend or dissuade them from choosing this option," said a spokesman for the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals Trust.

She offered an apology if the couple had got the impression that they were being advised to opt for an abortion.

The condition agenesis of the corpus callosum means that tissue connecting the two halves of the brain is missing.

It is regarded as particularly hard to diagnose from scans.

The charity Antenatal Results and Choices says 35,000 pregnant women are warned of the risk of birth defects as a result of scans every year.

Director Jane Fisher said: "This condition is a real minefield - it can cause serious brain problems or leave people unaffected.

"Clinicians have a duty to give parents all the options, and on the whole these difficult issues are very sensitively handled."