Most married couples get asked “when,” but Charli Worgan and her husband Cullen frequently received “why” questions. The parents, who live in Sydney, often find themselves in the spotlight due to their unique forms of dwarfism, especially when Charli became pregnant with their first child.
After giving birth to their first child, Charli started a social media account to share updates on their family life. She had no idea how popular her account would become.
Now, with two beautiful daughters, Charli has amassed over 300,000 Instagram followers. Recently, she revealed that she was fourteen weeks pregnant with her third child, but the announcement was bittersweet.
Charli has had to undergo thorough genetic testing during each pregnancy. Experts warn that if Charli and Cullen’s child inherits just one type of dwarfism, both types, or is of average height, the results could be fatal due to their genetic conditions.
Charli expressed her disappointment at not being able to celebrate her pregnancy’s 12-week mark with her family, as most mothers do.
“At 12 weeks, instead of celebrating, I was preparing for Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS), similar to an amniocentesis. A large needle is inserted into my abdomen to extract a sample of the placenta to check the embryo’s genetic composition, which carries a 2% miscarriage rate,” she explained.
Their two daughters, Tilba, 4, and Tully, 2, each have one of the two types of dwarfism, so they awaited the results to find out which of the four possible outcomes Charli’s third child would have. In an Instagram post, Charli detailed the possibilities:
– Their child could be of average height.
– Their child could have achondroplasia, the same type of dwarfism Charli has.
– Their child could have geleophysic dysplasia, the same type of dwarfism Cullen has.
– Their child could inherit both genetic conditions, resulting in “double dominant dwarfism,” which is fatal.
Charli acknowledged that if their child were diagnosed with double dominant dwarfism, she would face the difficult decision of whether to terminate the pregnancy or proceed and see how things turned out.
