A Charlotte couple was surprised to hear that they were going to have septuplets but their joy turned to tragedy when all seven died.
Steve and Lindsey Justice have been married for five years now. They have two children, Hannnah, 4, and Hope, 2.
The couple tried getting pregnant for about nine months but nothing was happening. Then, Lindsey learned that she has PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome, which just made it more difficult for her to get pregnant.
"It's just emotionally draining; its hard, and for me to see her going through it...it's hard for me to watch her go through it," Steve told WNC.
The couple then resorted to fertility drugs, People reports.
Steve, a former NFL player, finally got the news from his wife about a positive pregnancy test. Little did they know that this test was going to change their lives.
"From that point on it was just kind of a wild ride," said Steve.
During their 8<sup>th-week ultrasound last June, the doctors discovered that Lindsey was carrying seven fertilized egg sacs, which carries a very high risk both for the babies and the mother.
The doctors suggested selective reduction, a process wherein some embryos will be terminated to give the others a better chance of surviving. However, the devout Christians instantly refused this option.
"He just said 'this is dangerous. The human body is not meant to carry six-plus babies, and for your health and for the babies - their chances of survival, your best medical option is to selectively reduce.' Steve and I didn't even have to look at each other. That was just not going to be an option," Lindsey recalled.
She also said that after the confirmation of the septuplets, "this was from God. It's not in our hands", and described it as a "miracle."
During weeks 12 and 16 however, Lindsey experienced miscarriages. Nonetheless, the couple still celebrated each Sunday whenever they had gotten through a week without trouble.
In week 21, Lindsey's water broke. Then they lost another baby.
"We said goodbye to Mercy, and I was laying on that table for two hours trying to do everything I could in my power, which was nothing, to relax and stop having contractions, but it wasn't God's will," Lindsey said.
Then, 10 minutes after, Lindsey gave birth to the other five babies.
"She was holding three of them on her chest and I was getting the next two and I just wanted it stopped. I wanted them to stay in there, " Steve said. "I was sobbing and you're like, can you just stop it?"
Tragically, the babies only survived for two hours after the birth.
"And what I would give to nurse them, to hold them, to rock them to sleep, to dress them. I want to be their mom, I want them to be here, you know. But that wasn't God's will," said Lindsey.
When NBC asked Lindsey if she had regretted her refusal to undergo reduction, she was quick to respond. "No. Oh gosh, I haven't even thought about that question. No, I would do the past however many, 21 weeks, again and again and again if I had the choice."
Both have admitted that they are still in mourning. They have saved the hospital blanket of each baby and they have photographs of them.
"She took a picture of all their feet for us, and to do that we had to ruffle their dresses and it hit me that this was the only time I would ever dress them cause that's what I love, that's what a mama does, I love dressing them. I got to dress them once and for all," Lindsey said.
A prayer celebration was held in honor of the babies' lives on Friday at the Forest Hill Church in Charlotte.
