“I’d never taken Madeline to a fashion show before because she was always sick. When her health increased, we walked in as I thought to myself, ‘What have I done?!’ I knew full well my daughter would want to be on that catwalk, too. Sure enough, after the show, she turned to me and said, ‘Mom. Me. Model.’ I’m the type of mom to do whatever I can to make things happen. Little did I know what this all would turn into.”
‘Don’t take her home with you,’ I was told. ‘If you have other kids, she’ll be a detriment to them.’ How wrong they were.’: Mom keeps baby, now world’s first ‘working model’ with Down Syndrome
‘They can’t read or write. They don’t understand danger or time. But they understand pure love. And they’ve felt it 29 years.’: Married couple now ‘longest living’ pair with Down Syndrome, sister says it’s ‘nothing short of a fairy tale’
“Maryanne and Tommy live in this bubble of love and happiness. They walk hand in hand everywhere they go, totally unaware of anyone else.The love they share goes so deep they literally can’t bear to be apart. Tommy always calls Maryanne ‘my love’ and ‘my darling wife.’ He often sings to her his favorite song, ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis. When they got married 26 years ago, so many people doubted them, said it was disgusting they were allowed to get married. That it would never work. How wrong they were.”
‘Looking at the photos, all I could think was, ‘She’s gorgeous!’ I saw her, not her disability. I sent them to my husband. I still remember his immediate words.’
“She was legally free. Our parents advised against it. ‘Your kid won’t be able to give back to you or support you when you’re old.’ ‘It’s too risky.’ I couldn’t understand why that mattered more than giving a child a home.”
‘I got the test results. I felt I let my husband down. Like I somehow failed to give him the ‘perfect’ baby. The silence was deafening. I kept thinking, ‘Why me?’ Then I thought, ‘Wait, why NOT me?’
“I had a woman sob in my arms out of sympathy. I remember telling my husband, ‘Do you think we’ll ever laugh or be happy again?’ I figured I had 3 choices. Give up, give in, or give it everything I’ve got. I had a little boy growing inside me who I needed be strong for. I went with option 3.”
‘How could this be? My ultrasound nurse told me the baby DID NOT have Down syndrome. The nurse looked at me and asked, ‘Are you going to keep her?’
“I wanted to do the whole thing by myself. No doctor, no ultrasound, no hospital, no midwife. So I did. My close friends and family were definitely not fans. My husband went along with it knowing when I make up my mind to do something, that’s it. It’s done.”
