The family of a pregnant Georgia nurse who was kept on life support under Georgia’s anti-abortion law is asking for help to pay the baby’s medical bills.
Adriana Smith’s family confirmed the brain dead nurse delivered her baby son, Chance, at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital in June.
Adriana delivered Chance at the same hospital system where she worked as a nurse. She passed away soon after being removed from a ventilator.
Adriana’s family says Chance is still in the hospital’s Neonatal ICU six months later.
Now the family is asking for financial help to pay Chance’s medical bills since the state of Georgia refuses to pay for his medical expenses.
Remember the dead woman that was forced to carry her baby? Well surprise, the baby is in terrible health. The baby has been in the NICU for 6 months. The state of Georgia is not helping pay for the medical expenses for that baby even though forced a dead woman to carry it…
— Mara (@mara_marinara) December 2, 2025
In an update on GoFundMe on Nov. 24, the family announced Chance will be moved from Emory to another hospital to continue his treatment.
April Newkirk, Chance’s grandmother, said he weighs 11 pounds and won’t be released home for the holidays. She shared a photo that shows Chance asleep with an oxygen canula in his nose.
“I want everyone to know that im very grateful for you prays and help continue to pray because God has the final say so [sic],” she wrote.
Adriana, 31, suffered intense headaches and was turned away by Northside hospital in February. Her boyfriend found Adriana unresponsive at home and she was rushed to a hospital.
Adriana was nine weeks pregnant when she was declared brain dead in February. Emory Hospital refused to take her off a ventilator because she was pregnant.
The hospital cited Georgia’s 2019 “heartbeat law” that bans abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected.
A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told CBS News that, “There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death.”
“Removing life support is not an action ‘with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy,'” he said.
Georgia has since passed restrictions limiting abortions to certain medical emergencies.
