‘My Baby Isn't Broken'

This mum has a plea for those who stare at her son in the street

- Keeley Henderson

As Peta Tease scoops up her one-yearold son Oliver, planting tiny kisses all over his face, the little boy bursts into the most adorable belly laugh. It’s clear the courageous toddler is thriving.

“He’s a happy and resilient baby,” Peta smiles.

But not long ago, little Oliver was the subject of cruel comments in the street – something that made his proud mum fear for her son’s future.

Peta was 19 weeks pregnant when she and her partner Jake, 29, discovered their longed-for baby had a cleft palate and heart issues after a routine scan.

The 27-year-old Sydney mother recalls bursting into tears and feeling absolutely “shattered”. For the briefest of moments, Peta even questioned whether she’d be able to love her unborn baby as much as her eldest child, seven-year-old Jax.

“That’s a really awful feeling,” the mum confesses, adding that it quickly passed.

PROTECTING HER BOY

Although the subject of a medical termination was raised, the very idea crushed Peta and a fierce maternal instinct arose within her.

“I felt really protective of Oliver from the moment we were told he wasn’t going to be the perfect baby we expected him to be,” she explains.

“We knew his cleft lip would make up such a huge part of who he was in those early days.”