ABINGTON, Northhampton — A former Olympic gymnast in the UK who is expecting triplets has refused her doctors’ advice to abort two of her unborn children due to health concerns and risks.

Jaime Halsey, 35, and her husband Steve found out that they were expecting triplets in October and were referred to specialists for further care. But because doctors believed the babies were at risk for Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) they advised that the Halseys consider selective reduction.

“We had our first scan in Northampton at 12 weeks and were immediately referred to specialists at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford,” she told the Northampton Chronicle last week. “They told us one of the twins is 25 percent smaller than the other and there’s a massive risk of further growth restrictions.”

Doctors said that they had concerns over Halsey’s health as well.

“I also risk putting my body under three times the strain to keep them healthy,” she explained, “so they advised the termination.”

But Halsey said that abortion was out of the question.

“My initial emotional reaction was ‘I can’t do that. I will keep them all and carry on with the pregnancy whatever,'” she recalled. “Other people have triplets and I wasn’t prepared to abort two healthy babies just to make life easier.”

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Halsey, who is now 26 weeks into her pregnancy, remains committed to carrying all three of her children through to delivery.

“I am determined to make this happen,” she stated. “I could not live with myself if I sacrificed two of them to save one.”

Her husband likewise looks forward to adding the children to their family. The couple currently has a two-year-old daughter named Flo.

“Everything went well at the last scan and all three babies are growing well,” Mr. Halsey told reporters. “The one twin remains smaller, but all three are extremely active, which is good news.”

He said that he and his wife were like-minded in refusing the doctors’ recommendations to abort.

“We never thought about terminating two of the babies for a second,” Halsey stated. “We want to bring all three of them into our happy family.”

Jaime Halsey, then known as Jaime Moore, was the UK’s first female trampolinist to appear in the Olympics, performing at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. She married Halsey, a professional rugby player, in 2009.

Photo: Venture Photography