Baby Bertie’s Open Heart Surgery

Hello Family, Friends, and new Friends,

Thank you for taking the time to read this. On September 19th our unborn son was diagnosed with a very rare congenital heart disease called Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). This arterial transposition prevents oxygenated blood from reaching the body and is not survivable without reconstructive open-heart surgery. It effects—within the United States—approximately 1 in 3,400 children each year.

Over the last month we have met with dozens of specialists who have all come to the same findings. We are now working with Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)—one of the best Pediatric Cardiology Departments in the United States—and we are very thankful that our baby is in such good hands. TGA reconstruction is considered to be a complex level 5 surgery (scale 1-5) but pediatric cardiology has improved significantly over the last 20 years, and with this, surgical success is high. At this stage all we can do is put our faith in the doctors and pray for the best outcome. On top of all of the medical appointments and financial concerns, we will have to relocate from our home when Cortney hits 36 weeks to be in a certain radius of the hospital.

Baby Bertie is scheduled to be delivered at CHOP in February. After birth he will be taken directly to the NICU and will have to have life saving open heart surgery during the first week he is born. After surgery he will remain in NICU for ~4-6 weeks if not longer, it will be a long road to recovery for our little babe.

Until baby Bertie is born, Cortney (my wife) will undergo multiple ultrasounds and echocardiograms and after birth baby Bertie will undergo similar procedures, weekly and then bi-weekly for much of the first year, stepping down over time to once a year for the rest of his life.

The estimated surgery is around $955,000, though we do have insurance policies, these policies will not cover all our medical bills and other out-of-pocket expenses. It is very humbling for us to reach out for help from our family and friends. We are emotionally, and physically overwhelmed by our medical needs and as you can imagine, it has been financially challenging. We’ve created this go fund me not just for financial charity, but also to act as an avenue of emotional support. We know our baby will be a special, enduring, and brave little guy, and words cannot express how proud I am as his father, knowing that he is already fighting. We are looking forward to baby Bertie being on the mend after his open-heart surgery and we thank all of you for helping us during such an overwhelming and humbling time.

Please consider supporting the GoFund Me—Baby Bertie's Open Heart Surgery Fund.

Love from the Bertie Family, Rich, Cortney, Bailey and brave baby Bertie.