A woman who lost her husband to a brain tumour 16 months ago gave birth to their second child via IVF.
On April 9, Jasdip Sumal, 38, gave birth to Amandeep via IVF. Her spouse, Aman Sumal, was diagnosed with a grade four brain tumour in August 2020 after experiencing a seizure and migraines.
Her husband is born to a widow.
He received chemotherapy and rigorous radiotherapy, but his health deteriorated and he died in December 2021, at the age of 36.
Jasdip decided to fulfil her and Aman’s dream of having another child after his death.
She gave birth to their daughter, Amandeep, via IVF on Easter Sunday, a week before Aman’s 38th birthday.
‘We had our son through IVF in 2019 and we always wanted to have another child, but then Aman became sick and everything after that was a whirlwind so we never got the chance,’ said Jasdip, a data analyst from Ruislip, London.
‘I considered doing it while he was still here. I knew dad didn’t have much time and thought it would be wonderful to tell him if he could understand me, but he died in December 2021 and I was left to deal with the pain of losing him.
Her husband is born to a widow.
‘I still wanted a family, but I realised there would never be a right time.’
‘It was always the goal to have a brother for Rajan, and that was important to Aman as well, so I decided to go forward with it,’ she continued.
‘It was Aman’s strength that showed me I could do it. He was so strong during such a difficult period, and I knew nothing I did would be more difficult than that.’
Aman was initially assumed to have a low-grade cancer, so he was given anti-seizure medication and referred for scans every three months.
After another seizure five months later, an MRI revealed regions of concern, and he had debulking surgery.
A biopsy of Aman’s tumour indicated that it was a grade 4 glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive brain tumour with a 12-to-18-month prognosis. Jasdip became pregnant in August 2022, eight months after Aman’s death, and gave birth to a healthy baby girl in April of this year.
‘Aman was head over heels in love with Rajan, but he always said, ‘I have one of me, and it would be good to have one of you, too,’ she explained.
‘I’m sure he’d be all over our daughter. It’s just a bad he’ll never get to meet her.
‘It’s bittersweet, something I believe everyone suffers with, but maybe she’ll bring understanding that Aman is no longer with us and that the next chapter for all of us is the kids.
‘I have a large family and received a lot of help throughout.
‘I couldn’t have done it without them,’ she says.
‘My sisters-in-law came to my appointments with me and were my labouring partners, so I didn’t have to worry about being alone,’ she continued.
‘Aman was certainly missed, but having the ladies with me was the next best thing, and I am eternally thankful.
‘One of them even cut Amandeep’s umbilical cord, which was amazing,’ says the mother.
Jasdip named Amandeep after her late spouse, which she stated she had always intended to do.
‘I always knew I was going to name her Aman because it’s a name for both sexes in our religion, but in the end, I opted to mix bits of both our names,’ she explained. My name is spelt differently, but the pronunciation is the same.
‘I know Aman will not be forgotten, but doing so provides us with another memory of him.
‘Hopefully, both of our children will grow up thinking they know him.’
