Min Sun Kim-Harding came to the United States from Korea when she was 14 years old to study. After she finished her graduate school studies, she got a job working in Washington, D.C., where she met her husband, John Harding.
John and Min are happily married with three children; the eldest is a college freshman at Holy Cross, their middle child is getting ready to go to college this fall in Providence, R.I., and their youngest, Anna Maria Harding, is nine years old. She is their miracle child.
Although the family currently resides in Weston, Mass., while they were stationed in Germany due to John’s military career, Min unexpectedly got pregnant.
Min said, "My husband was in the military, and we were stationed in Wiesbaden. I did not plan on having a third child. I was content with two kids, a boy and a girl.”
The couple already had their two older kids, and Min was over 40 years old. Because of her age, the doctor told her they would have to test the fetus for Down syndrome. In Germany, the abortion rate for babies with Down syndrome is estimated to be over 90 percent. This is higher than the European average of 54 percent.
Min said, “I did not think anything of the tests,” as she had already had two healthy babies in the past. As devout Catholics, Min and her husband were willing to take on whatever God sent their way.
A few days later, Min recounted, “I was praying the Rosary in the living room and I got a phone call. It was the doctor… And it’s not a good sign when the doctor calls you because usually when you don’t hear from the doctor, you know it’s good.”
Her doctor, Dr. Christina Moisidis-Tesch, had called to let her know that her baby would most likely be born with Down syndrome and that she needed to have more tests done.
The mother of three explains that after the doctor gave her the news, she just blacked out, “I couldn’t hear anything after that because I was just in shock.”
Min called her husband crying, and he comforted her by reminding her that God is in control.
“Min, don’t worry. God is in control, just don’t worry about it," John told his wife. "If that’s God’s will, we have to accept it.”
After calling her husband, Min called her close friend, who was also a medical doctor, to tell her that she would need to undergo more tests. Her friend, Dr. Garcia, advised her to not get any more tests done as German doctors would perform these tests in order to advise on abortions if the babies tested positive for Down syndrome.
When Min and John went back to the doctor, they both looked at each other and said, “no more tests."
Dr. Christina was surprised, and Min turned to her husband and said, “John, no matter what, I am going to continue to pray.”
She told her friends and family to pray for her and asked her husband to take her to some holy sites in Europe.
Min said, “I told everybody to pray for me. I believed God would hear my prayers, and those of other people. And in the meantime, I told my husband, 'I want you to take me to all the sacred places, like Lourdes.'”
John and Min went to Lourdes, France. While at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, Min went into the pools of the miraculous waters, and the nuns told her to face the statue of the Blessed Virgin and pray. Min turned to her Holy Mother and prayed for the health of her unborn child.
She said she called out to our beloved mother and said, “Mother Mary… all I care about is a healthy baby. Please pray for me, and for a healthy baby.”
Min went to Mass every day and drank as much of the Holy Water as she could while there. After Lourdes, Min asked her husband to take her to Turin, Italy, as the Shroud of Turin was on display at the time. She knelt in front of the burial cloth of our Lord and begged Him for a healthy baby, “All I’m asking for is a healthy baby."
As their time in Europe came to a close, John, Min, their two children and their unborn child were stationed in El Paso, Texas. While her husband was in California picking up their cars that were shipped from Germany, Min went into labor by herself at their hotel in El Paso.
Coincidentally, a friend from Germany, Carrie Cogbill, was staying at the exact same hotel where Min was. Min called her for help and Carrie immediately took her to the military hospital.
At the military hospital, they told her they did not have room for her and called an ambulance to take her to the children’s hospital. They were finally able to admit her for labor at the children’s hospital, and after a painful 12-hour wait, her husband made it just in time. Anna was born quickly and was given to her parents before being taken away to the incubator.
“I looked at my baby and she looked beautiful,” Min remembered.
John turned to Min and said, “Min, she has Down. Where did you put the Lourdes water?”
Min told John that it was back at the hotel. John went to retrieve the Holy Water and went to the NICU.
Min recounted, “He went upstairs to the NICU where my little Anna was. And, he opened the incubator and asked them if it was ok, and he blessed her with the Holy Water from Lourdes and said, 'Regardless God, I love her and thank you for this baby.’”
The next day, the doctor approached John and told him that whatever signs they saw of Down syndrome the day before were now gone, so they needed to do more tests.
“My husband just cried," Min said.
Because Anna was a premature baby, for two months, Min did kangaroo care with her, which is skin-to-skin therapy every day while Anna remained at the hospital.
While Min was in the NICU with her daughter, a nurse approached her and asked if she remembered him from the delivery room. He was the nurse who helped deliver her baby and handed Anna to Min.
“You know the day that you had your baby, when she came out, she had Down syndrome," he told Min. "But then, when I saw her at the NICU, I thought they had switched the baby.”
Min, being a “doubting Thomas,” asked the nurse why he thought Anna had Down syndrome. He explained how they check for signs: the ear level, the feet and toes, the eyes, and the hands.
Min was left in awe.
She named her daughter Anna after the Blessed Virgin’s mother and gave her the middle name Maria after the Blessed Virgin herself. Now, almost 10 years old, Anna Maria prays the Rosary and the Saint Brigid prayer daily with her mother. She is also part of the choir at their parish.
Min says she felt called to share her story to give hope to those who have lost hope and think God isn't listening. He is always listening, and while we cannot see the bigger picture like He can, we must always remain steadfast in our faith and trust that the Lord knows what He is doing.