Some wanted baby Chance dead. Now he’s home with his big brother.

After a miraculous birth and months in the hospital, Baby Chance, the son of Adriana Smith — who was declared brain dead months before his birth — has finally gone home from the hospital.

Key Takeaways:

• Adriana Smith was nine weeks pregnant when she developed blood clots, and was pronounced brain dead.

• She was kept on life support until her baby boy, Chance, had to be born via cesarean section.

• Despite claims from the pro-abortion media, Smith was not kept alive due to Georgia's pro-life law; in reality, it was due to the state's advance directive law.

• The law has a two-part requirement for a pregnant patient to be removed from life support, and Smith met only one of those requirements.

• While Chance had to remain in the hospital for many months, he was able to go home in February.

The Backstory:

In 2025, Adriana Smith was nine weeks pregnant and went to the Northside Hospital in Georgia with severe headaches. She received medication and sent home, but the next morning, her boyfriend woke up to her gasping for air and making gurgling sounds. At Emory University Hospital, where Smith had worked as a nurse, a CT scan revealed blood clots in her brain. Tragically, she was declared brain dead.

“They [Northside Hospital] gave her some medication, but they didn’t do any tests. No CT scan,” her mother, April Newkirk, said. “If they had done that or kept her overnight, they would have caught it. It could have been prevented.”

Smith was moved to Emory University Hospital Midtown, where she was kept on a ventilator to allow Baby Chance the opportunity to survive. Despite the media frenzy condemning the case, Newkirk said at the time that she wanted her grandson to have the chance to live... which is how baby Chance's name was chosen.

“I just want to be clear on something: we want her to have her baby. We want her life to continue through[] her children," she said, adding, “The journey is for baby Chance to survive — and whatever condition God allows him to come here in, we’re going to love him just the same, and we’re gonna embrace him.”

Pro-abortion activists blamed the heartbreaking situation on Georgia's LIFE Act, which protects most preborn children from abortion. In reality, it was the Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care Act of 2007; under that law, a pregnant woman cannot be withdrawn from life support unless her preborn child is not yet considered viable, and she has an advance directive in place requesting to be removed from life support.

As Smith had no advance directive in place, she had only one of the two requirements in place, and therefore, she was kept on life support.

In June, Baby Chance was born. He was extremely premature, born via c-section between 25 and 26 weeks gestation, weighing just one pound, 13 ounces. Chance had to remain in the NICU for the rest of 2025, though by October, he had grown to weigh eight pounds and was making progress.

The Details:

Newkirk had arranged a GoFundMe to pay for Smith's funeral expenses and Chance's medical care.

In an update, she said baby Chance was able to go home in February and is doing well. He was able to reunite with his brother, Chase, Smith's older son, which Newkirk said made Chase "so happy" and that their reunion "made [her] cry."

First of all I want to tell everyone Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I have an announcement to make[.] look who's home. Chance is home doing [well.] still on oxygen[.] I won't go into details but keep praying[.] chase was [so] happy to see chance it made me cry[.] im your big brother ❤️ adriana smith 2 sons

In another update, she added, "He's a pleasant baby and happy." (New photos are on GoFundMe.)

Due to the tragic nature of his mother's death, many abortion activists have not been happy about Chance's survival; in fact, many openly wished death on him.

Today, some (including Newkirk, it appears) are calling for changes to Georgia's laws to ensure babies like Chance are not given the opportunity to live.

The family has erected a number of billboards calling for "Justice for Adriana." Achieving justice for Smith involves ensuring that women, particularly Black women, have their medical concerns listened to, and receive proper medical care.

Instead, Smith's pain and symptoms were not treated as urgent or dire, and she was sent home. She should have received a CT scan right away. While it is impossible to know if Smith's life could have been saved, she might have at least had a chance.

The Bottom Line:

What happened to Adriana Smith, in the fact that her medical concerns were not properly addressed when she experienced a blood clot, is an injustice that should never happen again.

But it is a miracle that Chance is alive and thriving at home with his big brother, and that should be celebrated.