Anthony and Elle Watmough's pregnancy ultimatum: “There is no cure for this abnormality.”

NRL Star Anthony Watmough and his wife Elle has been delivered some tragic news about the fate of their unborn child.

It’s every expectant parent’s worst nightmare.

Crippled with endometriosis since the age of 16, Elle Watmough, wife to NRL star Anthony Watmough began IVF treatment at just 23 years of age.

For three long years, the couple have been dreaming of holding a precious baby of their own in their arms and had almost given up hope when miraculously Elle fell pregnant with their last frozen embryo earlier this year.

Happy 2yr anniversaries to my wife and best friend. Two years it feels like just yesterday since we said I do…

A photo posted by awatmough (@awatmough) on Jan 18, 2015 at 12:38pm PST

The couples excitement continued as Ms Watmough received 10 perfect ultrasounds and was pleased to learn that she had less than a 2 percent chance of miscarrying.

It was a dream come true, until the couple were delivered heart breaking news; their baby girl was carrying Trisomy 18 – a rare and in most cases, fatal condition. “There is no cure for this abnormality,” Elle wrote. “Unlike Down syndrome where a baby can lead a somewhat happy life, babies with Trisomy 18 will die.”

All the couple can do is wait anxiously and make an incredibly difficult decision as to how they will proceed with the pregnancy.

  The best/worst day of our life. For those that follow our journey Elle and I found out we are expecting a baby girl, however we also found out that she may have Trisomy 18, news that shattered us. Full story on Elle’s blog. We are hoping for a miracle for our baby girl. elleandanthony.blogspot.com   A photo posted by awatmough (@awatmough) on Aug 28, 2015 at 1:28am PDT

In a heart wrenching statement, Watmough wrote on her blog;

“I can only speak for how I’m feeling and I want to acknowledge and love this little girl that is growing inside me, that we made and to us, is perfect as ever,” she said.

“How do you become attached to something that you may lose in a matter of weeks?

Do I get excited that my belly is growing or do I acknowledge the likelihood that it probably won’t grow much bigger? I don’t want to sound negative,” she continued.

“I want to be positive, think of the best possible outcome, be thrilled that we are finally pregnant and that my body can actually grow a baby this far,” Ms Watmough wrote.

Ms Watmough said that she will endure another ultrasound and further testing in two weeks time to rule out whether the cell abnormality was centralised to just the placenta, or was also being carried by their child.

I feel like I’ve waited forever to have this ???? #2ndtrimester #babygirl @awatmough PS the reason there has been a lack of food posts is because I haven’t been able to stomach anything that is not white or beige in colour haha (burgers, toasted sandwiches, chips… You know all the good stuff) on second thoughts… Maybe this is more food than baby in this picture ????

A photo posted by 〰 Simple, Clean, Nourishing (@ellewatmough) on Aug 27, 2015 at 11:23pm PDT

“If the baby had full Trisomy 18, our only option would be to medically terminate the baby,” she said.

“This puts us at a heartbreaking ultimatum if our bub does indeed show in the next lot of test results positive for T18. “Two of our doctors have recommended that we wait another two weeks, repeat the ultrasound to see if she has changed structurally and do an amniocentesis, where they can test the cells that the baby is swallowing and producing inside the amniotic sack. Our other doctor has suggested if this next test comes back positive we are only prolonging a bad outcome.”

Welcome to paradise @castawayisland @elle_watmough A photo posted by awatmough (@awatmough) on Dec 21, 2014 at 4:19pm PST

“Do we wait until 17 or 18 weeks when all the testing is exhausted to find that we have a situation on our hands where the only options are to medically terminate our baby; risk it and potentially have a stillborn or carry to term only to have a baby with severe and fatal abnormalities that is going to live maybe a few hours or days after birth,” Elle wrote in her blog post.

With the future of their baby girl removed from their control, there is nothing left for Mr and Mrs Watmough to do then to be positive and have hope that their daughter will be one of the lucky ones.

“We will keep you updated with any results we get. Please keep our little girl in your thoughts. We are hoping for a miracle and that we can introduce you to a beautiful little girl next March.”