This photo of a baby clutching a Mirena IUD implant has gone viral, probably because it implies he ripped it out as he exited the uterus, then waved it in a triumphant “FU” to his mom for trying to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. It is staged. I hope.
According to Metro UK, Lucy Hellein had her IUD inserted and then likely became pregnant just days later. This was her third Mirena, and she says the last two “worked great.” Not this time:
I found out I was pregnant in December and I’ll admit I was scared because of the Mirena. I assumed I was only a few weeks along, but the ultrasound confirmed that I was already 18 weeks along.
My Mirena was nowhere to be found on ultrasound so my OB assumed that it had fallen out, but I wasn’t convinced.
Dexter was definitely meant to be. His original due date was May 4th and even the doctor said ‘the force was strong with this one’.
Although he wasn’t planned, my family and I feel incredibly blessed.
So, where was that darn Mirena? Chilling behind the placenta instead of doing its job. Hellein had a c-section, during which doctors discovered the truant implant. It’s unclear who suggested the impromptu photoshoot, and her Facebook post doesn’t explicitly say, “We forced my old IUD into my newborn’s hand for this image,” though it should. A baby is not a gynecologist and you can’t trust them with IUD insertion or removal! Hellein says she’s happy to have Dexter in her life, though immediately following his birth she had her fallopian tube removed. By a doctor. An adult doctor.