Baby born to Michigan woman who declined treatment for brain cancer dies after two weeks of life

The baby born two weeks ago to a Michigan woman dying of brain cancer has passed away.

Life Lynn DeKlyen had been doing better than expected after being born prematurely but "took a turn for the worse" this week, according to relatives. She weighed just 1 pound, four ounces at birth after being born 25 weeks into the pregnancy.

Life died Wednesday evening at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.

"We don't have any answers," the baby's aunt Sonya Nelson said, adding "the cards were kind of stacked against her."

Carrie DeKlyen had declined to undergo treatment for her brain cancer because it would have meant ending her pregnancy. She passed away on Sept. 9, three days after giving birth to Life, her sixth child.

"Maybe Carrie needed her," Nelson said. "It is comforting for us to know that she went home to be with Carrie."

Nick DeKlyen, Carrie's husband, has said their decisions were rooted in their Christian faith. Their five other children range in age from 2 to 18 years old.

In declining treatment, Carrie DeKlyen had decided against a clinical trial that could have extended her life by 15 years or more.

"She chose to have the baby. That’s what she wanted, and I supported her," Nick DeKlyen told the Detroit Free Press earlier this month. "She had the baby, and now it's time to go home. She's going to heaven. She's going to be healed."

With News Wire Services