Prince's ex-wife opens up about 1996 death of couple's baby

Prince’s ex-wife opens up about 1996 death of couple’s baby

Actress/dancer Mayte Garcia attends the LA launch party for Prince’s PETA Song at PETA on June 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

Prince’s ex-wife is opening up about the couple’s son, who was born with a rare genetic disorder in 1996 and died just six days later.

Mayte Garcia writes in a new memoir, “The Most Beautiful Life: My Life With Prince,” excerpted in People magazine that baby Amiir was born with Pfeiffer syndrome type 2, a disorder that causes skeletal abnormalities. She says the baby struggled to breathe and underwent multiple procedures before his death.

The story reveals:

When Garcia, then 22, discovered she was pregnant, she and Prince were overjoyed at the thought of raising a family at their home in Paisley Park. The pregnancy went smoothly until she began bleeding one day and a doctor recommended an amniocentesis to test for genetic abnormalities. The procedure, the doctor warned, carried a risk of miscarriage. Yet as the doctor told them: Sometimes the body is trying to release the fetus for a reason. But Prince, Garcia writes, was against it: My husband said, ‘No, we’re not doing that.’

Prince, Garcia writes, prayed for the child, yet “further exams revealed more complications.”

Garcia tells People she doesn’t think Prince ever got over the baby’s death. She says, “I don’t know how anybody can get over it. I know I haven’t.”

Garcia and Prince married in 1996 and divorced in 2000.

Prince died last April from an accidental overdose.

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