A woman who lost her husband to a brain tumour has given birth to their second child through IVF 16 months after he died.
Jasdip Sumal, 38, gave birth to Amandeep through IVF on April 9. Her husband, Aman Sumal, was diagnosed with a grade four brain tumour after suffering a seizure and headaches in August 2020.
He underwent chemotherapy and intensive radiotherapy, but sadly his health continued to deteriorate and he died in December 2021, aged 36.
She gave birth to their daughter, Amandeep, through IVF on Easter Sunday, a week before what would have been Aman’s 38th birthday.
Jasdip Sumal, a data analyst from Ruislip, London, said: ‘We had our son through IVF in 2019 and we always planned to have another child, but then Aman got sick and everything after that was a whirlwind so we never got the chance.
‘I thought about doing it while he was still here. I knew he didn’t have long and thought it would be a nice thing to tell him if he could understand me, but he passed away in December 2021 and after that I was coping with the grief of losing him.
‘I still wanted to have a family though, and knew there would never be a good time.’
She added: ‘It was always the plan to have a sibling for Rajan, and that was important to Aman too, so I decided to go ahead with it.
‘Aman’s strength is what showed me I could do it. He was so strong during what was an incredibly hard time and I knew nothing I did would be harder than that.’
‘I know he would have been all over our daughter. It’s just such a shame he won’t ever get to meet her.
‘It’s bittersweet, which is what I think everyone struggles with, but hopefully she’ll bring acceptance that Aman’s gone and that the next chapter for all of us is the kids.
‘I have a big family and had so much support throughout. I couldn’t have done it without them.’