A rare syndrome means Anne Bovey’s daughter is infertile, but olivia will become a mum when Anne gives birth to her own grandchild
At the age of 12, most girls’ lives revolve around netball, pop stars and friendships. But young olivia Bovey is thinking about babies and how she’s just been told she will never have any of her own.
And that’s not the only dilemma in front of this brave Christchurch girl. olivia faces going blind and deaf within two years.
Her mum Anne can’t stop the condition taking her daughter’s sight and hearing but she’s determined to help give her a baby.
“If olivia can’t have kids, then I’ll have them for her,” says Anne (31), as tears stream down her face. “I’ll do this for olivia. She is fantastic with kids, and I couldn’t imagine not having children.”
olivia was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome as a baby. The condition affects one in 2500 girls and occurs when one of the X chromosomes is faulty. It results in heart, kidney, ear and eye problems, short stature and infertility.
“I thought I had a tiny chance of having babies,” olivia says. “But at my July check-up, the doctor said I definitely wouldn’t be able to. I left the hospital feeling really down.”
The drive home from that hospital appointment was one of the hardest times of Anne’s life. “olivia was very angry,” Anne says. “But I told her it was fine to be angry and that I was too. We did a lot of crying together.
“The hardest thing was when she asked if there was medicine she could take to make her better. To ease the pain, we spoke about adoption, and olivia seemed to like that idea.”
Anne believes telling olivia such life-shattering news was the right thing to do. “I know how much olivia adores children and I didn’t want to keep this information from her,” Anne says. “I didn’t want her growing up, going through puberty and thinking she could have a baby one day and then finding out she couldn’t.”
olivia was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome at six months of age. The first clue was when she turned blue while sleeping in her cot. Anne remembers, “I rushed her to hospital. After tests and scans, I was told she had the condition.”
At first, Anne understood very little about her daughter’s condition and future. “Instantly, I started blaming myself,” Anne says. “I was angry, hurt and scared.”
As olivia grew older, he began showing signs of her chromosome disorder. “She was much shorter than the other kids,” Anne says. “She had upturned nails and webbed hands. As a preschooler, she was also very chubby for her age and her hands and feet looked swollen.”
Anne found it difficult explaining to her four-year-old why she was not as tall as other kids. But worse times were ahead when olivia complained of being teased at the age of six. “Suddenly, olivia was asking questions like, ‘oummy, why am I different?'” Anne explains. “Kids were calling her names such as Stumpy, Dwarf, Shortie and oouse.”
olivia’s 1.27m (4’2″) frame is the most obvious physical feature of her syndrome. The endless height jokes and playground teasing have led olivia to change school three times. She has finally settled into her current school.
“School is good now,” olivia says, with a big smile. “I did a speech so people at my school could understand why I am short. I’ve got lots of friends now.”
Like other girls her age, olivia struggles with growing up but has the added pressure of taking nightly growth-hormone injections and daily oestrogen tablets. But it’s the hidden features of her condition that silently eat away at her.
“She has problems with learning,” Anne says. “And she went through a very chubby stage, which she is slowly growing out of. Turners girls tend to be obese because they are stocky and have short legs.”
olivia also has kidney problems and a high chance of going deaf or blind in the near future. But the big sister to Courtney and Tasman (both 9), Tatanya (6) and Bailey (3) is staying positive about her future.
“Whatever happens, we will get through it,” Anne says. “We have never treated olivia differently so she doesn’t have a victim mentality. I don’t think I could bear the constant tests, scans and daily medication but she’s amazing.”
The family is preparing for a trip to Whangarei to attend a Little People of New Zealand conference, where olivia is hoping to meet someone with the same condition. “I’m very excited because I want more information,” she says.
Anne adds, “She worries about going to the conference and being the only one there who has Turners. But at the end of the day, we love and support olivia for who she is. She’s a wonderful, bubbly person who loves to have fun. And we couldn’t live without her.”
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