AgapéCare Cradle aids grieving parents after child loss
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – One in four pregnancies ends in a loss of some sort. It's an experience that many families don't know how to process until it happens to them.
AgapéCare Cradle provides guidance, resources, and support to parents who are experiencing the crisis of losing a child.
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Shawn and Jeni Lehecka's lives changed in a matter of minutes.
'We're having all these conversations, like, oh, three girls, and like what are we gonna do?' Shawn said.
After 20 weeks of waiting to learn their baby's gender, both were blindsided.
'They came in, told us she had anencephaly,' Shawn said.
It is a neural tube defect where a baby is born with a missing or underdeveloped brain, skull, and scalp.
'Part of her brain wasn't fully there, and so we didn't know like what to expect of how, like how long we would have with her,' Jeni said.
The following five months were a different kind of pregnancy.
'You know, not getting our nursery ready, not getting our baby things back out, but also picking out, like, what is the one thing we want her to wear, to be, to be buried in,' Jeni said.
AgapéCare Cradle stepped in and walked the Leheckas through the steps of planning a funeral.
'Having that resource was huge, just to know that you can go through with any type of questions and never be a burden. They were always right there for us,' Shawn said.
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The nonprofit supports families as they grieve the what-ifs.
'When you walk down the road and you see a 3-year-old, and you think, well, my baby would have been 3, and then, you wonder what that would have been like,' Lissa Nemitz, executive director of AgapeCaré Cradle, said.
Empowering them to make decisions for their baby, like other parents would.
'Naming your child or choosing what outfit your child wears, or when you're able to be a part of that, choosing how your baby's life is honored that, that fills a hole,' Nemitiz said.
In September, the Leheckas welcomed Charlotte to the world.
'As I was holding her, just the fact that she was alive, just embracing every moment of that,' Shawn said.
Every moment for 84 priceless minutes.
'We were able to read books to her and sing with her and just be close with her,' Jeni said.
It is a blessing they will cherish forever.
AgapéCare offers a monthly support group for moms on the third Thursday of every month. Find details on AgapéCare Cradle by clicking here.
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Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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