The remarkable story of heartbreak & determination behind WA mum Jodi Shevlin’s miracle babies

When Jodi Shevlin found out she was pregnant last year, her first thought was: “Am I going to die?” The Perth mother struggled to navigate the complete shock, joy and fear that overwhelmed her. Shock, because she had been told she would never fall pregnant due to severe scarring on her uterus, known as Asherman’s syndrome, caused by a procedure following a miscarriage. Joy, because she and her husband Brock Fleay were desperate to give their son Ted, who was born via surrogate, a sibling, and were about to recommence the complex, costly process with their American surrogate. And fear because Asherman’s syndrome carries an increased risk of placenta accreta spectrum, a serious pregnancy condition that occurs when the placenta either sticks too deeply or attaches in places it shouldn’t, which can lead to life-threatening haemorrhage and hysterectomy. Those fears would be realised on February 25, the most traumatic day of her life. Yet it was also one of the most remarkable days; the day when both she, and her little fighter Sully, overcame all the odds. Almost eight weeks after welcoming Sully Shevlin-Fleay into the world, the Bibra Lake couple have detailed their incredibly challenging journey to becoming parents to both their boys. It’s a remarkable story of heartbreak, determination, medical marvels and miracles. Ms Shevlin fell pregnant in late 2019, but sadly suffered a miscarriage at around six weeks. She underwent a dilation and curettage (commonly known as a D&C) a common and routine procedure to remove tissue from the uterus. When her period didn’t return, the couple were blindsided by the news Ms Shevlin had stage four Asherman’s syndrome, which is most commonly caused by a D&C and can lead to infertility in women. “Being told at our fertility appointment that our only chance of a baby was surrogacy, foster or adoption, was a complete shock,” she recalled. “My scarring was too severe for me to be able to carry our own baby.” Not wanting to give up, the couple made contact with Sydney doctor Thierry Vancaillie, a specialist in Asherman’s syndrome, and underwent embryo retrieval with a view to carrying out IVF after surgery to treat the Asherman’s. But Ms Shevlin’s scarring returned following the surgery, and after many months of research and consultation, in May 2022 they connected with a “beautiful surrogate” in Florida. “Years of fighting for answers, losing a baby, a failed transfer, specialist appointments, procedures, injections, supplements, money, heartbreak and many, many tears, we finally had a path forward,” Ms Shevlin said. The couple were unable to find a surrogate in WA, which only allows altruistic surrogacy. Their fertilised embryos were sent to a clinic in Utah and Ted was born in October 2023. Ms Shevlin and Mr Fleay were about to begin the process of adding to their family when they were stunned to discover they had conceived naturally. “I called Dr Vancaillie in Sydney and I was like, ‘What do I do? My scarring is back, how is that going to affect me? Am I going to die?’ “And he said, ‘Modern medicine shouldn’t let you down, there are a lot of things we can do, they will monitor you very closely.’” She felt it was a matter of when, not if, something would go wrong, not allowing herself to believe she would have a healthy baby in her arms at the end of it. “I didn’t talk about Sully a lot because I didn’t know what was going to happen, was I going to be OK, was Sully going to be OK?” Ms Shevlin said. “The whole pregnancy I didn’t really believe it was happening.” At 14 weeks, maternal fetal medicine doctor Shin Lee at Aurora Imaging picked up placenta accreta, and Ms Shevlin was placed under King Edward Memorial Hospital consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Mathias Epee-Bekima’s PAS team for the remainder of her pregnancy. “PAS can cause major problems for both the mother and the baby, and if not managed well, it can lead to life-threatening bleeding,” Dr Epee-Bekima told The West Australian. “PAS can lead to some serious issues for women, such as massive blood loss, problems with blood clotting, damage to organs like the bladder, needing to remove the uterus (hysterectomy), blood transfusions, infections and chronic pain.” In Ms Shevlin’s case, her PAS was located at the top of her uterus and as her pregnancy progressed, it became harder for doctors to monitor the extent of the damage to her placenta. Incredibly, Ms Shevlin made it to 39 weeks when Sully was delivered via caesarean section on February 25, weighing a healthy 4kg — another rarity for a PAS pregnancy. But Ms Shevlin had no time to soak in his arrival before things took a devastating turn when she was in recovery. Despite the best efforts of the medical team her severe PAS had grown through to the muscle, resulting in the worst-case scenario: a massive haemorrhage and emergency hysterectomy. After losing three litres of blood she was rushed to theatre where doctors removed her uterus. This was followed by three blood transfusions. “It was just awful, I thought I was going to die. It was the scariest day of my life, it was absolutely terrifying,” Ms Shevlin said. “The blood loss had been my biggest fear. The medical team was amazing, Dr Epee-Bekina was incredible.” Despite all she has gone through, Ms Shevlin considers herself lucky. Lucky because her Asherman’s was picked up early; many women can endure years of unexplained fertility and IVF before a diagnosis. And lucky because she and her husband now have their two precious boys. She is now passionate about raising awareness of Asherman’s and PAS. “I just feel so grateful to have both my boys. Sully and Ted are both miracles,” Ms Shevlin said. Dr Epee-Bekima said King Edward Memorial Hospital usually sees about seven to 10 women a year on average with PAS. “However, we know cases are starting to rise and last year the hospital saw a jump in cases, with 24 women,” he said. He said PAS, which is often diagnosed unexpectedly, affects about one in 500 pregnancies and is one of the most complex challenges in obstetrics today. Dr Epee-Bekima hopes to help more women and children impacted by PAS after recently receiving a Telethon grant to further his research through the Women and Infants Research Foundation. “The increase in PAS cases globally is strongly linked to rising caesarean section rates, yet we still don’t fully understand why PAS develops or why it progresses more aggressively in some women,” he said. “That’s what this research is all about: closing a critical gap in medical knowledge so we can better predict, prevent, and manage PAS — and ultimately improve outcomes for mothers and babies.” Dr Epee-Bekima said he was delighted to watch both Ms Shevlin and Sully thrive. “Jodi had a miracle pregnancy, there is no other word for it.”