New Era, New Worry

I have a downs baby girl and I wanted to know first hand before she was born so that my family, and I could prepare for her arrival. we got all the doctors lined up to meet our special princess. God only blesses wonderful families rich, poor, or middleclass with down syndrome children. they have a right to be here just like anyone else. I DO NOT think doctors should suggest termination it is a horrible thing to suggest to a expecting mother.

I have a downs baby girl and I wanted to know first hand before she was born so that my family, and I could prepare for her arrival. we got all the doctors lined up to meet our special princess. God only blesses wonderful families rich, poor, or middleclass with down syndrome children. they have a right to be here just like anyone else. I DO NOT think doctors should suggest termination it is a horrible thing to suggest to a expecting mother.

WOW YOU AND I SOUND AS IF WE HAVE A LOT IN COMMON THE BIRTH OF MY THIRD CHILD A SON WITH DOWNS HAS BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE. AND WHILE THEY DOCTOR'S NEVER CAME RIGHT OUT AND SAID ABORTION THEY SURE WANTED TO DO EVERY TEST AVAILABLE I WOULDN'T LET THEM FOR FEAR OF LOSING MY SON I WANTED A THIRD CHILD NO MATTER WHAT AND I AM SO PROUD TO BE HIS MOMMY HE IS ALMOST 7 YEARS OLD AND HE'S STILL MY BABY .

We must take a long hard look at why people are deciding to snuff out the life of Down Syndrome kids just because of DS. Are we not supposed to love our children no matter what? Through sickness, hardships and medical problems. Do people secretly or subconsciously want kids that will not cause them embarrassment? That they can parade and brag about. This is superficial and immoral. "Yes son I love you but ....if you looked or acted a little different than what we think is the norm even through no fault of yours then I probably would not want you" Would this statement be acceptable in a civilized, moral society? Should it matter how our kids look or if they are an inconvenience? What kind of love do you hold for your children and where does the basis for this love originate? Is it truly unconditional or are you fooling yourself?
Children should not be loved because they: look like us, are physically beautiful, will carry on our legacy, complete us, make us happy, are smart, are good at something, will make us look good etc. etc.

You can figure out the answer to the reason why you should love your children ???.hint (if you have to figure it out then you don???t know).

It's people like ipanemagirl that do not have an understanding of real life. as a mother of a 10 yo son with DS, I wouldn't trade him for the world. there are no garantees in life and ANYONE can have a child with a disability including ipanemagirl. look at all the kids diagnosed at 2-5 yo with autism - should they all be killed because their disability showed up after they were born? everyone has a choice to make and do what is right for them. ignorance is not an excuse to tell people what to do. learn about real life and then come talk to the parents that have kids with a disability. hopefully ipanemagirl, you will not have to go thru any of this but you are at risk just like the rest of the world. remember that CP is something that can happen to a baby during the birthing process. you nor anyone else are guaranteed a so called "normal" child. maybe the answer is you shouldn't have a child at all to save the rest of us in this world.

Please don't tell me, ipanemagirl, that "DS are not pretty to look at." People stop me on the street to tell me how beautiful my daughter, who has Down sydrome, is.

I am the proud mom of a 7 year old boy with Down syndrome. I found out during my pregnancy that he would have Down syndrome and even though I am pro-choice, I chose to bring him into the world. His disability brings some unique challenges, yes. But his charismatic personality, razor sharp wit, and tenaciousness bring so many more joys. Having a child with a disabilty has showed me that we are all of equal value and I desire for him the same thing I desire for his brother who does not have a disabilit: happiness, self-esteem, and fulfiling relationships. There is no reason that the quality of a person with Down syndrome's life is any less than that of a so-called "normal" person, and who determines what is "normal" anyway?

The comments thus far sadden me. My 36 year old Down syndrome daughter has a wonderful life. She does not suffer. She is a high school and community college graduate, has a job and a very full social life. Her life is different than the lives of my other children, but that doesn't mean it is worse. I have made arrangements for her if she should outlive me (as any parent should) and there is a network of people who love her and support her. I simply cannot accept that we should decide who is "worthy" of life and who is not.

I am outraged at this article. We should be doing our best to prevent bringing handicapped children to this world, and here you are promoting it. We have already reached a population maximum that we should not be willing to include humans that can barely take care of themselves....I find this cruel, especially since we can now avoid this by testing and wait to have a normal child instead. Same for spina bifida and cerebral palsey, and other avoidable abnormalities. I think doctors are right in discouraging these kinds of births!

I'm also the mother of a little boy with Down syndrome. He is a wonderful child and I cannot imagine life without him. It makes me very sad to think that there are parents out there who think they "cannot do it" and choose to terminate their pregnancy. I was devastated when I discovered that my baby would have Down syndrome, but my fear came from total ignorance. I knew nobody with Down syndrome and I was afraid that I would spend the rest of my life caring for a disabled child. Well, today my son goes to our neighborhood school where he is fully included in a typical classroom. He has a wonderful aide who helps him and he is doing really well. He can speak very well--his vocabulary is in the 97% percentile of typical children!!--he is learning to read, he can use a computer, he loves music, he is very active. If somebody had painted THIS picture to me when I was in the hospital, I wouldn't have cried half as much. What expectant parents need to know is that their life can and will be really great--not despite but BECAUSE they have a special child. And I'm afraid that medical practitioners who do not know a person with Down syndrome personally are not qualified to counsel expectant parents because they do not have the first-hand experience a veteran parent does. My son has his challenges--he can be stubborn, he needs extra help to learn, and he likes to wander off--but overall our life has been blessed by his arrival and we wouldn't have it any other way.

I am the mother to a 16 month old little girl with DS. I had the testing done while pregnant and they both came back negative. I am so thankful to have her.!!! She is our only child and will remain our only child because I am not able to have children anymore and I am only 26. I think more education should be offered out there, so that stereotypes won't keep others from accepting these wonderful beings! My daughter is the light of my life! I wouldn't change it for the world! I just want others to know, that just because of a disability, doesn't mean they won't be able to do this or that! EDUCATION people!

I am a mother of a 5 year Downs child, He is magnificiant.
MY beliefs are as follows.
Prenantal testing and especially the new tests now being discovered, should always be offered. In addition the women and /or the couple having the baby should always have a guilt free right to terminate that pregnancy.
And yes diagnosing Downs at an early stage of pregnancy would make it easier to terminate but I beleive as long as the diagnosis was balanced and doctors to provide "accurate and up-to-date information" about Down syndrome to expectant parents, the right to terminate is in the end a choice of the parents.
My experience was a bad one.
In 02 I was pregnant at the age of 41 with a girl. I had an amnio for the 1st time (I have 3 other grown children)
and 2 days later my water broke resulting in months of bedrest only to give birth to a 21 week old baby that died in my husbands arms 1 hour after birth. The amnio results were NORMAL.
So when I got pregnant again 1 year later I did not do the amnio.
The earleir tests I did and ultra sounds did not pick up on the Downs, but when my water broke at 28 weeks they had it tested. My Doctor broke the news to me on the phone while I lay ther alone in my hospital room.
He then went into a strong suggestion that I go to Colorado to terminate the pragnacy at 28 weeks. I felt completly bullied.
My husband who did not have any children was frightened at the gleam picture my OB painted. For me; I had this life growing inside me, talking singing to him as my belly gre. He was mine
A wonderful OB doctor at Beth Israel -Dr. Wong, who always seemed to be in the hospital every time I was there and became a friendly face for all the proceedures I had, told us some much gentler things about Downs kids.
His kind patient voice explained the lighter, happier side of raising a down child and suppling us with much information
we were so ignorant about. In addition we had a visit from the head of down's clinic at Children Hospital givng us much needed support.
My son was born at 30 weeks with no heart problems but was extremly low tone. Later he developed seizure disorders.
We struggle with his health issues, but there is no greater love then him. He is our everything.
Sometimes we ask ourselves, would we have gone throught the pregnancy had we known early in gestation about
his downs. Probably not and that seems so strange.
However, if I became pregnant again I would still want that choice,

Why do people think that someone should not have a child because the child will be disabled?I have 2 autistic boys, one has DS. Has it not occurred to some people that anyone could could start out "normal" and ending up having a disability later in life due to accident or illness? Some of the way people think does bring naziism to mind, hate to say it but its true. By the way I have yet to meet a "normal" person.

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Many disturbing facts in this article - not just the suggestion that more Down syndrome pregnancies would result in abortions because of improved tests for Down syndrome. I'm much more disturbed to read that the majority of members of the medical profession today have no more knowledge of the condition than was known 50 years ago. What kind of medical education is that? My mother's youngest sister was Down syndrome and I grew up in a multi-generational household that my aunt and I were part of. My grandparents sent my aunt to school when possible and she spoke two languages. She also read in those two languages (note, I did not say she coomprehended all she read). She learned many household chores and helped in many ways around our house. She was a sweet, lovable perxon and a big part of my childhood. If she had been treated with medication that is available today, her life could have been even better. My grandparents never looked upon their daughter as a burden. I am grateful for the compassion I learned as a child growing up in this family situation. If this were a condition that always resulted in serious physical health issues, I might be able to better understand some of the negativity expressed in some responses. Yes, I never was an adult taking care of a child in this situation. I was a child with a down syndrome relative who grew up to help take care of her. If the medical profession today cannot educate parents more intelligently about a child's condition, they should not be practiding obstetrics or pediatrics.