after spending 15+ months daily with a baby with Down syndrome, and countless hours with other babies, children and adults with Down syndrome, i continue to be appalled at the exceedingly high number of abortions performed on babies diagnosed with Ds. it is estimated that 90% or more of american babies diagnosed with Ds prenatally are aborted. it is absolutely sickening to think about.
i find myself asking others "did you have a prenatal diagnosis?", just out of curiosity. we chose not to have prenatal testing because we knew that it didn't matter what the prenatal tests showed, God had chosen to give us our precious baby.....but friends have told me that it helped them to have the prenatal diagnosis to be prepared when their baby was born, having already gone through the "grieving" process. i've found that some people believe that others ask that question because they wonder how you ended up with a baby with Ds, because if given a prenatal diagnosis, you would surely "terminate," right? UGH!!! i've never felt that type of attitude in that question, but maybe i'm just naive!
when you consider the statistic that 1 out of 733 babies are born with Down syndrome, and there are 90% more babies with Ds who were aborted, that's a lot of parents who have been affected by Ds. there are a lot of parents walking around who have aborted a baby with Down syndrome. parents who see our precious little ones with Ds, many of whom i'm sure have regrets for the choice they made. who grieve for the baby they chose to "terminate." i'm sure they are surprised to see the joy that our little ones bring to our families, and to so many others with whom they have contact. they are probably surprised to see how fulfilling and wonderful their lives can and will be. we have great hopes for wyatt's future. it is such a tragedy that others choose a different path daily....what a shame that our society has allowed the atrocity of abortion to gain such a foothold in our country; an "easy" fix to an inconvenience......
What a heartbreaking statistic...90% of DS babies. I have such a hard time talking about abortion when it comes up in school or in mixed company. I could weep on the spot for the number of babies Satan snatches through that terrible word. I'm so glad Wyatt came into your family so that we can all be blessed by your example of unconditional love.
ReplyDeleteI am also so sad that people automatically feel they "cannot handle a child like that" without really knowing what they are talking about. I sometimes wonder if they think all of us who love and adore our children have psychological issues, I mean, how could we? They cannot fathom how much love they bring to our lives and for that am feel terrible for them.
ReplyDeleteThey do not know what they missed and I feel great sorrow for them, I always wonder if that woman who looks appalled when she sees me and my three girls aborted her baby with Ds? Why else would she act so stricken?
I (stupidly) visited the TFMR board on Babycenter and was surprised to find a post entitled "October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month". I read it and was amazed to see women who are angry that we have a Ds awareness month!?! Really?! You chose to terminate, so the rest of us shouldn't raise awareness of how great our kids are? I was baffled.
ReplyDeleteTara,
ReplyDeleteI have to say, that's one (of many) boards on BBC that I've never visited. Just too heart-breaking. We shouldn't have to defend our choice to have our children. IMO-they should have to defend their choice NOT to.