Brain-dead mother has baby girl

Aug 3 2005

Twenty six year old Susan Torres, who has been has been kept alive for almost three months, since a stroke in May, has given birth to a baby girl, two months prematurely.

The brain-dead U.S. mother was kept alive to give her foetus time to develop.

At present the baby is being monitored at the neo-natal intensive care unit at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia.

The baby's mother, Susan Torres, suffered a stroke on 7 May after an undiagnosed cancer spread to her brain.

At the time, even though doctors said she was brain dead, they offered to keep Susan alive for the sake of the baby.

When she had the stroke she was four months pregnant with her second child.

Jason, her husband was in agreement and left his job to be at his wife's side.

This has of course meant the accumulation of huge medical bills over the past three months.

The baby girl, Susan Anne Catherine Torres, was delivered by Caesarean section at a Virginia hospital on Tuesday and weighed 800g.

According to the baby's uncle, there were no complications and she is doing well.

The hospital is not releasing any information about the condition of Mrs Torres.