Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
NEWS
Twins (offspring)

Stranded parents, baby to return from Portugal

Shari Puterman
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Kim Kirzow Spratt kisses her daughter, Hayden Grace, in a  hospital in Portugal. Hayden and her twin brother, Hudson, were born 13 weeks before they were due. Hudson died a couple of weeks after they were born.

A couple on their "babymoon" in Portugal in May have been stranded there since the premature birth of their twins. Unable to travel commercially because their surviving child required a medical transport not covered by their insurance company, the New Jersey couple will now be returning home.

Kim Kirzow Spratt and her husband, Fred, welcomed twins into the world May 10 — 13 weeks before they were due. Since then, one twin has died, and the other remains in the hospital.

Their daughter, Hayden Grace, was too sick to fly home on a commercial aircraft. But their insurance carrier, Highmark Blue Shield, refused to cover the cost.

Thanks to an outpouring of public support from their New Jersey homebase this week, the insurer changed its mind. As a result, Highmark Blue Shield has since approved the Spratts' request to cover medical transport to New Jersey. The family is planning to return to the state later this month.

“The community has been amazing,” said Kim Spratt. “We’re not even there, and we feel so much support. Back in May, it was incredible to hear the outreach. People are reaching out — bring baby Hayden home — it’s been overwhelming. It feels really good to know so many people have been praying for us, loving us.”

Friends also set up a GoFundMe page to help the family with costs. It has raised more than $56,000 in three months.

The ordeal began in May, when — like many couples — the Spratts planned a "babymoon," or a final getaway as a family of two.

The doctor said it was OK to travel. The babies, after all, weren’t due until Aug. 25.

“The doctor gave me 100% clearance, and we got total reassurance,” Kim Spratt said. “We even got a letter for the airline in case there were any problems.”

After a sunset cruise, Kim started feeling very sick. When she arrived at the hospital, it was determined that she was in the late stages of labor.

Their son, Hudson Charles, was born weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces. He died May 24.

Their daughter, Hayden Grace, born at 1 pound, 7 ounces, fought for her life and continues to defy the odds.

“It’s been unfathomable, but we had to stay strong for Hayden,” the new mom said in a statement.

The family, who lives in Jackson, N.J., hasn’t been home in four months. Kim Spratt’s business has been closed since April. Although Hayden now weighs almost 4 pounds, but she's not cleared to fly commercially.

Late last week, Fred Spratt said, "It has to be a medical transport, and insurance won't cover it. They are saying it's not a medical necessity because she can stay in Portugal and get treatment."

Hayden Grace Spratt, who weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces when she was born in May 2015, is almost 4 pounds now.

Kim Spratt said then, “Now we’re really actually stranded. That’s what makes it bittersweet — she’s finally reached the point that we have been fighting for all this time, and we can’t even leave.”

But on Tuesday, a story published on app.com garnered the attention of politicians.

Several political figures reached out to the couple and the insurance company, urging them to help bring this family back to the Jersey Shore.

The pressure worked.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith reached out to Highmark Blue Cross.

“Hayden Grace Spratt is quite simply a miracle,” said Smith, R-N.J.

“Her parents, Fred and Kim, have showered her with love and fought tirelessly to help her in her struggle to live and grow stronger. We are extremely grateful that her insurance company reversed the denial and now proper medical transport will be in place to safely bring her home.

“I am thrilled that the Spratts will soon be back in Jackson to be welcomed by family and friends.”

The couple, although still awaiting logistical details, are beyond grateful and can’t wait to settle into life at home.

“Once we get home and settled,” Fred Spratt said, “we are going to sit down one night, look at each other and say, ‘What the heck did we just go through?’ We can never thank everyone enough.”

The journey has been extremely emotional.

“Losing our son has made it that much more difficult,” Kim Spratt said. “There are days when we look at each other and start crying. After Hudson passed, all our hopes and faith were resting on the shoulders of Hayden, a 1 pound baby that was very, very sick. That’s a lot of pressure. Basically, our lives were resting on her — her health, her getting better. She shouldn’t have lived, but she made it through.”

If something had happened to their daughter after Hudson's death, Fred Spratt said it would have been devastating.

“Hayden had so much pressure on her to get better — she did that for us,” he said. “Now, it’s our job to get her home — to do that for her.”

Featured Weekly Ad