European Nightmare Ends As Jersey Shore Parents Finally Get Insurance OK, Can Fly Baby Back

A New Jersey couple whose twin babies were prematurely born while on a Portuguese vacation, with one of them dying while the other recovered, can finally come home.

The insurance company that initially wouldn’t fly them home on a medical transport has reportedly reversed course, and will fund the flight back to New Jersey.

Highmark Blue Shield, the couple told The Asbury Park Press, approved the Spratts’ request to cover a medical transport to New Jersey, and the family is planning to return home later in September after four months.

The company had said it’s not a medical necessity because she can stay in Portugal and get treatment, according to the report.

Efforts to reach Highmark were unsuccessful. An earlier APP report noted that the twins’ father, Fred Spratt, initially wasn’t afraid to point the finger of blame:

“I was on the phone with the insurance company ... Right now they are the villain. They’re the only thing stopping us from getting home.”

In the latest APP report, Kim Spratt of Jackson, the mother, expressed relief, saying a tremendous outpouring of support after the issue was publicized probably helped change the insurance company’s mind.

“The community has been amazing ... We’re not even there, and we feel so much support. Back in May, it was incredible to hear the outreach. People are reaching out — bring baby Hayden home — it’s been overwhelming. It feels really good to know so many people have been praying for us, loving us.”

Kim Spratt gave birth when she was 24 weeks pregnant to twins who weighed barely over 1 pound each. Kim and her husband, Fred, were then trapped in an intensive care unit for months, with all their family and friends back in the United States, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the family.

Spratt gave birth to her son, Hudson Charles Spratt, and his twin sister, Hayden Grace Spratt, on Mother’s Day. Hudson died on May 25, according to The Asbury Park Press and New York Daily News.

>>Related:

• N.J. Parents ‘Stuck’ In Europe After Premature Birth of Twins; One Baby Dies
• One Twin Died, One Lived, And N.J. Parents Can’t Leave Europe. Insurance Won’t Let Them.

The surviving infant was kept in a Lisbon hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit while tied to tubes, and was too unstable to touch, according to the reports.

On June 12, the couple held their daughter for the first time. And on Aug. 25 — the babies’ due date — Hayden was moved from an incubator to a bassinet, according to The Asbury Park Press.

Family and friends have been there, in spirit, using GoFundMe to provide support. As of Thursday afternoon, the page raised more than $55,000.

The page noted that the couple is surrounded by people who don’t speak the same language, and they were ”worried about the safety” of their child.

“The stress and now the financial burden of having to find a place to live for an indefinite amount of time in a foreign country with brand new twins is heavily weighing on them,” according to the GoFundMe page.

The page asked people to consider giving at least $5, which could help them make a phone call back home to their parents, doctors or help them find a place to live.

“Mom owns a business back home that doesn’t run without her so in addition to the unexpected expenses and living situation, her business won’t be making any money and the situation will be detrimental to it. ”

The Spratt’s GoFundMe page can be found here.

Photo: Kim and Fred Spratt, from GoFundMe