While most families receive normal results, almost every day a Minnesota newborn’s life is changed because of the results they received from newborn screening. Just click on a story below and let Minnesota families tell you about the difference screening made in their lives. The Newborn Screening Program thanks all the families who volunteered to share their stories.
If you would like to share your family’s newborn screening story, please complete the release form below and send it, along with your story and picture(s), to health.newbornscreening@state.mn.us
Amino acid disorders |
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Andrea's story
My name is Andrea Diane Bastian and I believe that every child deserves a chance. Without newborn screening that chance would be taken away from many babies. Without newborn screening I would not be standing here today.
Read Andrea's story in its entirety.
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Cystic fibrosis |
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Zak and Ella’s story
Thanks to the newborn screening test I found out my youngest has Cystic Fibrosis (CF)! Thru that test we also figured out why my 2 yr old was always sick - he too has CF. Had they not taken my baby’s blood drops -- and it is the tiniest drops -- we would be dealing with 2 very sick children!! Read Zak and Ella's story in its entirety.
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Endocrine disorders |
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Greta’s story
Our daughter, Greta, was born with congenital hypothyroidism, which was first detected by her newborn screen. I can't possibly put into words what it means to us that she will be given the best possible chance of growing up strong and healthy.
Read Greta's story in its entirety.
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Lucia’s story
On July 12, 2008 we welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Lucia, into our lives. Although she arrived a little later than we had hoped, she was definitely worth the wait!
Read Lucia's story in its entirety.
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Fatty acid oxidation disorders |
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Gabriel's story
Our son Gabriel was born happy and healthy. When he was 3 days old, we had him circumcised. In the hours following the procedure, Gabe's blood sugar dropped to 34, he was unresponsive. With the help of the nurse we were able to feed Gabe a bottle and he returned to normal within a half hour.
Read Gabriel's story in its entirety.
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Giselle’s story
Though we do not live in Minnesota, we wanted to share our experience because our story would be very different had our child been born in a state like Minnesota that has such a comprehensive newborn screening program.
Read Giselle's story in its entirety.
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Ryan’s story
My son, Ryan, was born healthy and strong, but quickly got very sleepy. Like my oldest son, he was not a good nurser and fell asleep a lot at the breast. I took advantage of the rest and didn't think twice about it.
Read Ryan's story in its entirety.
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Galactosemia |
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Althea's story
We brought our daughter, Althea Wren, home from the hospital on a Monday. The newborn screening results came in on Wednesday and showed a positive result for galactosemia. Our pediatrician called to inform us of the positive test and had us come in for some further blood tests.
Read Althea's story in its entirety.
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Evan’s story
Eighteen years ago, when I was only three days old, I became very sick. I couldn't communicate my problems beyond my cries, I did not have a voice of my own, so my parents did not know what was going on. My parents did not know the severity of my sickness.
Read Evan's story in its entirety.
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Hearing loss |
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Amanda and Ashley’s story
When our twin girls were born in 2001, I knew I wanted to have their hearing tested as soon as possible. Thanks to the then volunteer newborn hearing screening program that became mandated in 2007 we knew within two days of their birth as to whether the girls passed or failed the newborn hearing screening test.
Read Amanda and Ashley's story in its entirety.
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Austin’s story
Austin was born one month early by emergency C-section. He was in the NICU for one week. When he was 5 days old, we were told he did not pass his hearing test. They told us that they would do the test one more time, just in case Austin had fluid in his ears due to the C-section.
Read Austin's story in its entirety.
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Bryce’s story
We received two gifts the week of 10/10/10: the first was Bryce being born into our family. The second was MN Newborn Screening detected his profound deafness before we came home from Rochester Methodist Hospital.
Read Bryce's story in its entirety.
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Kendra’s story
On December 5th, 2006 my world changed, I was blessed with my first child, Kendra. At the time I knew nothing of the newborn hearing screening process.
Read Kendra's story in its entirety.
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Hemoglobinopathies |
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Danyella’s story
When we received the call that Danyella’s newborn screening results were positive for sickle cell disease, we could not believe it. I had been tested; Danyella’s father had been tested. The doctor back home had told us the results were normal! However, the test had been for sickle cell disease, not sickle trait.
Read Danyella's story in its entirety.
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Negative screens |
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Audrey and Colton’s story
Every parent has so many things to worry about with a new baby. As practicing audiologists, my husband and I both understood how important it is to go through newborn screening so that we would have as much information as possible about how to best meet our children’s needs.
Read Audrey and Colton's story in its entirety.
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Elisa’s story
Our daughter Elisa was born at 33 weeks weighing less than 4 lbs. She was so small, her little arms were the same size as our fingers! She spent the first 3 weeks in the NICU, sleeping, growing and learning how to eat.
Read Elisa's story in its entirety.
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Josie’s story
Even though Josie passed her newborn screen, we were both so grateful to know that it had been done. What better gift to give your child than the healthiest, best future possible??
Read Josie's story in its entirety.
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Niko’s story
I didn't know anything about newborn screening, but I'm sure glad that my wife and the nurses got Niko checked out. Everything turned out fine. You can see from the photo he's doing great.
Read Niko's story in its entirety.
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SCID |
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Brandon and Taylor’s story
When Brandon Dahley was born a screening test for his disorder was not available. Appearing to be a healthy newborn, his family treated him like a “normal” child. However, Brandon was not normal.
Read Brandon and Taylor's story in its entirety.
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