13 Sep 2018

Emma Gilkison: The Heart of Jesus Valentino

From Nine To Noon, 11:21 am on 13 September 2018
Emma, Roy and Jesus Valentino - October 2014

Emma, Roy and Jesus Valentino - October 2014 Photo: Billie Brook

Kiwi mother Emma Gilkison has written a memoir about the devastating discovery at a routine twelve week scan that her unborn baby had a fatal condition.  His heart was growing outside his body due to an extremely rare condition called ectopia cordis. 

Emma and her partner Roy were faced with two heartbreaking options: end the pregnancy or continue in the knowledge their baby would die.  Former Sunday Star Times and Dominion Post journalist Emma Gilkison tells Kathryn Ryan why her book The Heart of Jesus Valentino, named for their baby boy, is ultimately a hopeful one.