A mum-to-be is devastated after an ultrasound scan failed to identify a fatal genetic disorder in her unborn baby and got its gender wrong.
Melissa Barker, 19, paid £45 for a 'wellbeing and gender reveal' scan with a private company when she was 17 weeks pregnant .
She was delighted to be told she was carrying a healthy baby girl who she then named Skyler-Rose and hosted a gender reveal party with partner Tom Smith, 21.
But her joy turned to heartache when her 20-week scan on the NHS revealed the unborn child has severe health problems and is only expected to live for a few days.
The abnormalities included a hole in the heart, arteries in the heart being the wrong way round, an abnormally large left kidney, being small in size and having stunted arms.
Doctors later confirmed that the baby was suffering from Edwards' Syndrome - a serious genetic condition which causes babies to die shortly before or after birth.
Another scan at Burnley General Teaching Hospital also revealed that Melissa, from Blackburn, Lancashire, was actually expecting a baby boy.
The teen, who is now 24 weeks pregnant, was left heartbroken by both pieces of news but intends to let her pregnancy go full term if the baby survives.
She said: "I was completely devastated and heartbroken when I discovered my son, which originally was my unborn girl, had several serious medical issues.
"The clinic did not say there was anything wrong with the baby, it said everything was OK.
"I don't understand why none of this was picked up during the wellbeing scan.
"Week by week we are living in hope.
"We are hoping for two minutes to hold him. Just to spend some time with him, it's not going to last long.
"We had been calling him Skyler-Rose and our little princess, buying so many things and it all now has to be changed.
"It sounds very stupid, but it's like I have lost my little girl."
Melissa was given a report by the Window to the Womb clinic in her home town, which did not highlight any issues, despite checking the skull and brain, lungs and heart and the amniotic fluid.
She had planned to take a year away from education in preparation to raise her child.
Helen King, Melissa's mother, said she had even planned a girl-themed gender reveal party following the 17-week scan.
She said: "Nothing can change a baby's condition, but we could have dealt with things sooner.
"I rang the centre, explained everything and they offered to change some pink toys we had bought while we were there for blue ones, and offered us a spoken apology."
Window to the Womb said its scan protocols were followed and the procedure was completed by an experienced sonographer and no abnormalities were detected at that stage.
A Window To The Womb spokesman said: "Melissa's scan was completed by an experienced sonographer who works within the NHS conducting diagnostic scans and we are confident that all of our scan protocols, as laid out by industry experts and our insurance were followed.
"This has been thoroughly checked by our clinical lead sonographer and her conclusion is that, at the time of the scan, there were no signs of any internal abnormalities."
On its website, Window To The Womb says: "The detection rate of abnormalities may vary depending on your gestation at the time of your scan."
It also states that its 16 to 22-week gender scans are 99.9 per cent accurate.
The company has 35 clinics nationally.
Melissa and Tom are raising money to pay for their unborn child's funeral.
Donate here .
