Though Teen Mom stars Cory Wharton and Taylor Selfridge will have to watch daughter Maya undergo one final heart surgery, they're trying to keep the faith she tells E! News.

One year after their 21-month-old daughter Maya completed her second open heart surgery, Cory Wharton and Taylor Selfridge are preparing to head once more into the breach.

"We actually just went to her doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago," Taylor revealed of her tiny warrior in an exclusive interview with E! News. "And since she's so tall, she'll probably have to have her surgery a little earlier. So that was some news."

As in, not necessarily good, not necessarily bad.

In the plus column, the pair, who have been dating since filming Ex On the Beach in 2017, are eager to be done with the whole heart-wrenching, traumatic experience that began when Taylor was 23 weeks along and their unborn daughter was diagnosed with tricuspid atresia, meaning the tricuspid valve hadn't formed and blood couldn't easily flow to the lungs for oxygen.

So the fact that Maya might hit that 35-pound benchmark required for her third and final surgery on the earlier side is "a good thing, because then when she's done with this next one, she's totally fine," noted Taylor. "So we do want to get through it."

But also, she continued, "We know how rough of a time that was."

After Maya, who will turn 2 on June 1, went under the knife in January 2023 she spent two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital Los Angeles sedated and on a ventilator, unable to breathe on her own.

So, no, neither Taylor nor Cory—also dad to 3-year-old daughter Mila with Taylor and 6-year-old daughter Ryder with fellow Challenge alum Cheyenne Floyd—are particularly eager to spend more time sleeping on a hospital room floor watching their daughter literally fight for her life.

"It definitely weighs on me," acknowledged Taylor. "It's hard not to think about. But I am living in the now. And I'm happy that she's doing so well right now."

As in, running all over the beaches of Florida, the streets of New York and the attractions at California's Disneyland "being crazy," as Taylor described her toddler. "She's doing wonderful."

As for her and Cory, they very much needed the trip to Colombia they took while filming Teen Mom: Family Reunion (the third season premieres on MTV March 13 at 8 p.m.).

"Going through the stuff with Maya was the worst thing I think both of us have ever gone through," said Taylor. "So kind of being in the clear with her and then being able to go on a vacation and have alone time with just us was very helpful because we wouldn't have done it probably without this. It helped us a lot."

And, yes, the pair, currently building their dream house in Los Angeles, discussed some very crucial next steps.

"We have everything but the ring and me just letting her know," Cory told E! News last October of his plans for a proposal. "Taylor deserves that and it's something that I want and she wants. Right now we're just taking steps to get there."

It had certainly been discussed previously, noted Taylor, "but it was never very serious. Like it was just kind of a playful, back-and-forth thing." But undergoing counseling while filming in South America, "Made it a more serious conversation between us," she continued, "and it was very helpful, actually."

The plan for Cory to drop to one knee was actually a pretty popular topic of conversation in Colombia, with fellow castmember Briana DeJesus joking, "He felt the pressure in the house for sure."

But consider Taylor relatively unbothered about the whole situation. While she noted, "Obviously I'm wanting the next step," the knowledge that she and Cory have already handled the whole for-better-or-for-worse part of marriage leaves her feeling pretty confident. "I know it's going to happen," said Taylor. "I'm not concerned."

Source:
courtesy of E!ONLINE

by SARAH GROSSBART

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