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hi, I do have a child with down syndrome, a girl. I would have 10 more just like her. I did not take the test to confirm the possibility, however Other tests indicated there could be a problem which included down syndrome mostly because of my age at pregnacy. I was honestly more surprised the baby was a girl then I was that she had down syndrome. 10 years later it has been more then rewarding. you are welcome to email me privately.
I work with children with Down Syndrome in addition to various other developmental and cognitive disabilities, and feel that I would be emotionally able to properly parent a child with that disorder, so it isn't particularly important to me at this time to hypothetically have in utero testing done. I am pro-choice in all instances, but for myself, I would not choose to abort a baby with Down Syndrome due to the disability. My absolute favorite of all the students with whom I have ever worked (and in truth, one of my favorite people in the world, period) is a young man with Down Syndrome, and having him and his family as a part of my life has very much colored my feelings on the issue. I may feel differently when/if I actually am pregnant, but this is my stance for the present.
I do not mean to sound mean but to everybody who says they would knowingly keep a D.S. child after the test confirms it, why set yourself up for a hard life when you can take the easy way out? Religious/Christian beliefs perhaps?
I never took the triple/quad screenings with my own children, but the parents of the surrogate children I am carrying wanted to know just to prepare themselves if it came back as a higher possibility. They wouldn't terminate the pregnancy regardless, but they wanted to know.
As for the question of WHY you would choose to go on with a pregnancy... I would only terminate if the condition were non-conducive to life and they would suffer pain or die soon after being born. Down's is not a death sentence. Many people with the disorder live wonderful lives and really enrich the lives of their families. If nothing else, it teaches us compassion, something I feel is quite lacking in today's world. And, for the record, I am pro-choice, not pro-life... this just happens to be the CHOICE I would make.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lisdol
Some people do not take the test because they will not abort regardless.
Same with the people I know who had a Down's baby, who is now 7 yrs old. The doctors begged my mother to have me aborted since she was 43 at the time, but she was a conservative Christian and refused. Makeup is made from aborted fetuses and it is a very profitable venture
I do not mean to sound mean but to everybody who says they would knowingly keep a D.S. child after the test confirms it, why set yourself up for a hard life when you can take the easy way out? Religious/Christian beliefs perhaps?
Perhaps it is not one's destiny to always "take the easy way out"...?
If a parent is dead-set on having the "perfect" or "easy" child, and would refuse anything less... they may want to think twice about having children at all! I have never met a perfect child!
We have, in our very small community, a young lady with DS. She volunteers at the food pantry, started a shop for "recycling" prom gowns to those who couldn't afford new ones, she's kind, funny, and is just a great person. We all love her dearly. So much so, that when her junior prom came up a few years ago at the local high school, she was voted Prom Queen.
I do not mean to sound mean but to everybody who says they would knowingly keep a D.S. child after the test confirms it, why set yourself up for a hard life when you can take the easy way out? Religious/Christian beliefs perhaps?
I wouldn't abort because I regard a fetus as a human being. To me, an abortion is not simply scraping off an unwanted mole or tumor, and I would never get an abortion because I didn't want to be pregnant. I do support euthanasia, so I would consider abortion if the baby was going to die in pain. I don't know whether I could go through with it to save my own life and am grateful that I was never faced with that choice.
I only went to church a handful of times growing up and never with my parents, although most of my family is vaguely Christian. It's impossible to say whether my beliefs are separate from my spiritual upbringing, because I am unable to step outside them.
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