Sydney parents Charli Worgan and Cullen welcome three children and share their family story
Most married couples hear questions about when they plan to have children. Charli Worgan and her husband Cullen, living in Sydney, were often asked why they planned to have children.
Charli and Cullen each have a different form of dwarfism. Public attention followed them in daily life. That attention grew when Charli became pregnant with their first child.
After the birth of their first daughter, the overjoyed Australian mother opened a social media account. She wanted the account to show their family life and to teach people about the way they lived. The account grew. Charli’s Instagram page later passed 300,000 followers.
The couple now have two daughters. Recently Charli announced that she was 14 weeks pregnant with her third baby. The announcement arrived after another round of genetic testing.
With each pregnancy Charli has gone through painful genetic testing. Charli and Cullen’s genetic conditions mean a child could inherit one type of dwarfism, either the form Charli has or the form Cullen has. A child could be of average height. A child could inherit both types of dwarfism. Doctors say inheriting both types would be fatal.
Charli described the twelfth week of pregnancy as a time of medical appointments rather than a public celebration. She wrote that when many people at 12 weeks mark the moment they feel ready to announce a pregnancy, she was lining up for Chorionic Villus Sampling. CVS is similar to an amniocentesis. The procedure uses a large needle through the abdomen to take a sample of placenta. The procedure carries a 2 percent rate of miscarriage. The sample is used to learn the genetic makeup of the baby.
Their daughters are two-year-old Tully and four-year-old Tilba. Each daughter has one of the two types of dwarfism in the family. When Charli became pregnant with the third baby, the family waited to learn which of four possibilities applied.
Charli listed those four possibilities in her Instagram post.
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The first possibility was a baby of average height.
The second possibility was a baby with Achondroplasia, the same form of dwarfism Charli has.
The third possibility was a baby with Geleophysic Dysplasia, the same form of dwarfism Cullen has.
The fourth possibility was a baby who inherited both genetic variations, known as double dominant dwarfism. From all professional medical evaluations that outcome would be fatal upon birth. Charli wrote that she would have had the choice, should that result appear, to continue the pregnancy and see how things developed, or to end the pregnancy.
Charli said the reality of their situation was a wait to learn whether she could bring this little one into the world in March 2021, or whether the journey of that baby would finish at the testing stage.
Sharing family life in public brought criticism. Charli addressed that criticism in the same post. She wrote that she had received criticism for choosing to have babies with these odds. She called that subject a whole conversation of its own. She wrote that by sharing this small piece of the puzzle, people who doubted could see that bringing a child into the world with her odds is no simple decision. She asked for kindness.
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The couple later had three children. The children are thriving. The family keeps sharing ordinary days, hard days, and happy days.
Their baby boy Rip was born at the end of February. Charli shared a photograph of herself with the newborn. She added words she offered to every parent. She wrote that she was tired and that she felt grateful and lucky. She wrote that there is no correct way to do motherhood. She wrote that she was sure there is no wrong way either.
Charli’s posts show the work of parenting in meals, appointments, play, rest, and public comments. Many parents recognize the fatigue, the gratitude, and the wish for a healthy child. Her account remains a record of one Sydney family that includes Charli, Cullen, Tully, Tilba, and Rip.
The early questions about why they would have children followed them through the first pregnancy. Those questions followed them through the growth of the Instagram page. Those questions followed them through the CVS appointments. The page itself became the place where Charli explained the four genetic outcomes in plain language.
Achondroplasia is the form Charli has. Geleophysic Dysplasia is the form Cullen has. Average height is one possible result for a child of theirs. Double dominant dwarfism is the result doctors describe as fatal at birth. Each pregnancy required a test that reached the placenta with a needle and carried a stated 2 percent risk of miscarriage.
Tully at two years old and Tilba at four years old each carry one of the two family forms of dwarfism. Rip arrived at the end of February after the wait that Charli described in the 14-week announcement. The March 2021 date she named in the post was the hoped-for time of birth while the laboratory work was still ahead.
The Instagram account began after the first daughter was born. The purpose Charli named was education about family life. Followers increased until the number stood above 300,000. The same account carried the list of four possibilities, the description of CVS, the note about criticism, and the later photograph with the newborn boy.
Public scrutiny is part of the story Charli tells. She places that scrutiny next to the medical facts she has already shared. She places the request for kindness next to the statement that the decision to have children under these odds is not a light one.
The family continues to live in Sydney. The parents continue to appear in photographs with three children. The posts continue to mix daily scenes with the medical history that shaped each pregnancy.
Charli’s words about motherhood after Rip’s birth stay close to the experience of being tired and feeling grateful. She offered those words to every parent who might read them. She stated that there is no single correct method of being a mother. She stated that there is no single wrong method either.
The story holds the same names from beginning to end. Charli Worgan. Cullen. Tully. Tilba. Rip. Sydney. Instagram. Chorionic Villus Sampling. Achondroplasia. Geleophysic Dysplasia.
The story holds the same actions. Being asked why they would have children. Facing public attention during pregnancy. Opening an account after the first birth. Reaching more than 300,000 followers. Announcing a pregnancy at 14 weeks. Undergoing CVS with a needle through the abdomen. Waiting for one of four genetic results. Receiving criticism. Writing that the choice is not simple. Asking for kindness. Welcoming Rip at the end of February. Posting a photograph with the newborn. Writing about tiredness, gratitude, and the absence of a single correct or wrong way to mother.
The account remains a public diary of a family whose children include two daughters with one form of dwarfism each and a son born after a third round of testing. The medical evaluations remain the source for the statement that double dominant dwarfism would be fatal at birth. The 2 percent miscarriage figure remains the risk Charli attached to the placental sample.
Readers who follow the page see school-age days, toddler days, infant days, and the older posts that explain why a 12-week mark looked different in this household. They see the list of four outcomes written in numbered lines. They see the later image of Charli holding Rip.
The wish attached to the family is health and happiness on the journey they are already living. The invitation at the end of the original telling remains an invitation to share the story with others.
Charli’s decision to keep posting means the same facts stay available: two parents with different forms of dwarfism, three children, a city called Sydney, a platform called Instagram, a test called CVS, two named conditions, a fourth outcome described as fatal by medical professionals, a birth at the end of February, and a mother who wrote that she felt lucky while she felt tired.
The children are described as thriving. The parents continue to share both the ordinary load of care and the specific history of genetic testing. The followers who arrived after the first daughter’s birth now see a household of five.
That household began under questions about why children would be part of the plan. It grew through a first birth, a public account, a second daughter, a third pregnancy announced at 14 weeks, a wait for laboratory results, and the arrival of a son named Rip.
The post that listed the four possibilities also named the choice Charli said she would have faced if the double-dominant result had appeared. She would have been able to continue and watch how the pregnancy developed. She would have been able to end the pregnancy. She framed the wait as a question about whether the baby could be born in March 2021.
The later reality is the family of five that appears in the more recent photographs. Tully, Tilba, and Rip are the three children named in the story. Charli and Cullen are the two parents named in the story.
The social media page remains the place where education about their family life first took a public form. The page remains the place where the CVS description, the four-point list, the note on criticism, and the newborn message were published.
Kindness is the word Charli used when she asked readers to look at the full weight of the decision. Gratitude is the word she used when she held Rip. Tired is the word she used in the same sentence.
The record is consistent across the pregnancies. Testing came first. Results came next. Birth followed when the results allowed the pregnancy to continue to term. The children who are here are described as thriving.
This is the story of Charli Worgan, Cullen, Tully, Tilba, and Rip, told through the same events, the same medical terms, and the same public posts, arranged so each part of the journey stands in its own paragraph for anyone who wants to read it slowly. Please share.