Policeman Wenjian Liu and his wife Pei Xia "Sanny" were happy newlyweds and hoped to have a family together. The couple had begun trying for a baby but, before their dream could come true, NYPD Detective Wenjian was killed in the line of duty, in December 2014.
32-year-old Wenjian and his partner, Rafael Ramos, 40, were shot dead by a gunman as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn. The killings sparked outrage, and both policemen were posthumously promoted to detective.
Sanny was devastated to be left a widow and thought her hopes of having a baby were gone.
However, the family decided to donate some of Wenjian’s organs, and Sanny requested that her husband’s sperm be frozen also, in the hopes of having his child one day.
The night after her husband passed away, Sanny had a dream about him handing her a baby girl.
Today's cover: The memory of NYPD cop Wenjian Liu lives on as his daughter, Angel, is born years after he was killed https://t.co/XFUgm2xe3s pic.twitter.com/8npATbzER5
— New York Post (@nypost) July 26, 2017
She became pregnant through IVF last year and knew immediately her baby was a girl. “I told my friend, ‘It’s going to be a baby girl.’ My friend said, ‘No, you haven’t even checked the sonograms’, but I was right,” the overjoyed new mum explained.
She kept her attempts to become pregnant a secret from her in-laws until she was successful, because she didn’t want them to worry about her.
On July 25, Sanny gave birth to a beautiful baby girl whom she named Angelina, at Weill Cornell Hospital in New York. Wenjian’s parents were there to welcome their granddaughter and provide support to the new mum.
"In the past three years, we were very sad, but today is the happiest day in three years,” Wenjian’s mother, Xiuyan Li, told media outside the hospital, according to Yahoo.
“There is hope for the first time because there is a new generation in the family.
Slain NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu's wife gives birth to baby girl conceived from sperm preserved after his death https://t.co/QNk3h9s1dg pic.twitter.com/cDUmMpKDoI
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) July 25, 2017
"Her name is Angelina, like an angel, like my son is an angel,” the proud grandmother added. “I'm just so happy.”
The proud grandparents describe the little girl’s features as “half-half” of both their son and daughter-in-law.
Sanny says she can’t wait to tell Angelina about her brave dad’s work and introduce her to “the big blue family” of the New York City Police Department.
What a beautiful story. Congrats to Sanny on her new arrival.
