| “ | My life has turned into a horror show and all I can do is stand back and watch it play out. My baby has no brain. No brain. I'm a damn neurosurgeon and my baby has no brain. I'd say God has a sense of humor but there is no God. No God would do this. | ” |
— Amelia describing her feelings over her pregnancy.
| ||
Christopher Shepherd was the child of Ryan Kerrigan and Amelia Shepherd.
History[]
Conception and Diagnosis[]
Christopher Shepherd was conceived by Amelia Shepherd and Ryan Kerrigan while they were on drugs. Amelia didn't know she was pregnant, as she thought the symptoms were withdrawal symptoms. However, it became clear when she took a pregnancy test. ("Andromeda")
At first, Amelia refused to have an ultrasound, but she later agreed to let Addison do it. While doing it, Addison revealed to Amelia the baby was a boy, but she suddenly turned the screen away because the baby turned out to be anencephalic (he had no brain). Amelia then fired Addison as her OB and denied herself and her baby prenatal care. However, when Jake brought up that prenatal care was important for both the baby and the mother, she hired him as her doctor.
Upon dealing with a brain dead patient, Amelia decided to donate her baby's organs to save multiple other babies all over the country. ("And Then There Was One")
Birth[]
When Amelia went into labor, she first told Jake. She was then taken to St. Ambrose Hospital. A transplant team was composed because of Amelia's wish to donate the baby's organs, but Sam, the only cardiothoracic surgeon in the hospital who was allowed to harvest organs from babies, initially refused to do it. He refused because it was murder in his opinion, as the baby could not be legally declared brain dead because of a functioning brain stem. However, if they'd waited for the baby to die first, the organs wouldn't have been viable anymore, which was why the harvesting had to take place not long after birth. Amelia first didn't want to see her baby, but once he was born, she wanted to see her son. She referred to him as the "most beautiful baby in the world."
The lawyers of the hospital also didn't agree with Amelia's plan. However, seeing Amelia in the hospital room, Charlotte said they would do the surgery. A conversation with Addison and Charlotte's actions also encouraged Sam to take place in the transplant team. His organs were harvested and transported for use. ("Gone, Baby, Gone")
Notes and Trivia[]
- He lived for 43 minutes.[1]
- His mother told him he wouldn't be alone after he died because his father was waiting for him.[2]
- He was referred to as Amelia's "Unicorn Baby" because when she was 12, she loved unicorns because they are magical and can do good things because her child would travel the country and do great things and her baby was the magic in other families' lives.
- His kidneys went to San Diego and Sacramento. Another abdominal organ, presumably his liver, went to Boston. His heart went to Chicago.
- He was mentioned twice by his mother to Owen Hunt during the 11th season of Grey's Anatomy. The first time after April Kepner and Jackson Avery lost their son to osteogenesis imperfecta type II, and after Derek's death when she said all the men she'd ever loved died.
- In season 15 of Grey's Anatomy Amelia said that losing him was one of the reasons she and Owen broke up. She was afraid that having another baby would lessen his memory.
- He was also mentioned by Amelia when she found out that she was pregnant with Scout Derek Shepherd Lincoln and she explained her situation to Link.[3]
- Amelia also mentioned him later when Maggie and Winston were having trouble convincing the parents of a baby that needed a heart transplant to have an experimental surgery. Amelia stepped in to help them and told them about Christopher and that he had a brother and she couldn't stop imagining who he would have looked like.[4]
References[]
|