“My husband and I always said we wouldn’t terminate a pregnancy. But then we were called into ‘the bad news room.’ They said, ‘There’s a chance of your baby having Down syndrome.’ We didn’t know if he would make it.”
‘He has no chance of surviving.’ There was fluid around his heart, lungs, and brain. They didn’t believe the pregnancy was viable, but he was SO loved already.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome
‘Are you going to keep her?’ We never thought it would happen to us. I prayed for her to be ‘normal.’: Mom details Down syndrome acceptance journey, ‘She’s changed our lives’
“We were angry. We were scared. We tried to talk ourselves into believing the test was wrong. ‘Why did you choose me to be her mother?’ I felt so inadequate to raise a child with special needs.”
‘He’s only measuring about 2 pounds.’ Tears began streaming down my face. Something was terribly wrong.’: Woman gives birth to baby with Down syndrome, ‘He’s uniquely formed’
“There aren’t words to explain how heartbroken I was. I cried, realizing this isn’t something you can ‘fix’ like a heart. This is a lifestyle set apart from most. I didn’t sign up for this.”
‘She’ll never be able to do it.’ Doctors didn’t expect much. The win wasn’t just for me. It was for an entire community.’: Woman with Down syndrome becomes ‘Woman of Worth’
“Parents often look at me and say, ‘You’re a role model.’ I know their children will grow up not to be like me, but to be exactly who they are, living their own beautiful purpose.”
‘But it doesn’t run in our family!’ I’m too young for this. Is it really happening twice?’: Brother with Down syndrome helps parents accept son’s diagnosis, ‘We had so much hope because of him’
“The phone call came early afternoon. I should have known something was wrong. ‘Excuse me? I’m not even supposed to be at risk.’”
‘He’s totally fine.’ I knew something was up. I deleted photos of him. It’s seen as a ‘curse from God.’: Baby diagnosed with Down syndrome months after birth, ‘He is so loved’
“‘There’s nothing to worry about.’ I remember looking for clues. Nobody else did. Not the midwife, not our health visitor, not the doctors. Nobody. I didn’t want it to be true.”
‘TWO flickering heartbeats. I should have been crying tears of joy, but instead I was still crying tears over the loss of our first baby, our fur baby.’: Couple struggles on the long road to twins, one with Down Syndrome
“My husband and I have been married for 6 years, and everything we have gone through from the moment we met just feels like such a tangled web of fate and destiny. I was born and raised in southwest Florida, and my husband, Josh, is from Ontario, Canada. Growing up, we made countless trips to …
‘His heart kept stopping. It was as though I was adrift at sea, waiting for a life vest.’: Mom births baby with Down syndrome who has open heart surgery, ‘I’ll spend the rest of my life shouting his worth from the rooftops’
“The first 36 hours of my son’s life were some of the worst of mine. I wanted to turn back the clock and return back to my normal life. In that hospital room, it felt as though nothing would ever feel normal again.”
‘You could have an abortion. At least save yourself.’ I was pregnant with my first baby, and planning his funeral.’: Woman encouraged to terminate baby with down syndrome, ‘We can’t control what our lives will bring us’
“A week later, I got a phone call from the abortion clinic to schedule an appointment. It turns out my doctor and his wife aborted their child with down syndrome because they thought he or she would become a burden. He thought I should do the same.”
‘Yes, Meg. The baby is healthy, stop worrying.’ Coward. She knew. I saw it and felt sick. I didn’t want to hold her.’: Mom unknowingly births baby with Down syndrome, ‘I want to shout her worth to the world!’
“I grabbed a nurse’s arm as she walked by. ‘What’s wrong, is she okay?’ Stumbling over her words, she responded with, ‘Congratulations, she’s beautiful!’ Coward. She handed her to me before quickly walking out of the room, like she was some kind of damaged goods. Her tongue could barely fit in her mouth. I didn’t want to hold her, feed her, or even look at her. I was furious. All I could hear was that damn whispering.”
