Posted on 07/24/2014 1:20:20 PM PDT by Morgana
LifeNews recently published an article by Mark Leach about what happened when his baby was born with Down syndrome. Leach describes how he and his wife felt abandoned by the medical establishment and how the hospital gave them outdated and scant information about Down syndrome.
In response to his experience, and the experiences of many other Down syndrome parents, he has become the bioethics specialist at the National Center for Prenatal & Postnatal Down Syndrome Resources, and works to get positive, life-affirming information into the hands of new Down syndrome parents and those who go through prenatal testing for Down syndrome. Leach says:
Parents have long described receiving the [Down syndrome] diagnosis negatively. A study of moms reported awful stories both pre- and post-natally. A study just last year reported that parents have a negative experience by a ratio of 2.5 to 1–so for every 100 sets of parents who had a positive experience with their health team, there were 250 who had a negative one.
In the book Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: the Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America, researcher Rayna Rapp documents three such negative experiences.
One mother, whose child with Down syndrome, Amelia, was four at the time of the interview, related the following:
So they diagnosed Amelia right away, on the delivery table. She was barely out, I barely got a chance to catch my breath or marvel at my first baby when the doctor pours this bad news all over us. “She’s got Down syndrome,” he says to us, very coldly. And after he tells us about blood testing and confirmations and all this stuff, we say to him, “But what does this mean? What should we expect?” And just as coldly he says, “Don’t expect much. Maybe she’ll grow up to be an elevator operator. Don’t expect much.” We clung to each other and cried. (Rapp 263)
h down syndromeThis appalling treatment no doubt added to the confusion and grief that the parents felt over finding out that their baby would face unforeseen challenges in life. If this doctor was so callous towards them after the birth of their baby, one wonders how he would treat his patients who tested positive for a Down syndrome child and were still pregnant. Would he push them towards abortion?
Another mother spoke about how angry her doctor was when she gave birth to a baby with Down syndrome:
My doctor was so angry with me. He couldn’t believe I didn’t take that test. “How could you let this happen?” He yelled at me. “You’re 40!” But I think something else: even though he’s mentally retarded, he could be a good person… It’s just like finding out you have a new job. You just do it, and you accept it, that’s all there is to it. (Rapp 263)
Even more heartless was the reaction of a third doctor, to another couple whose baby had Down syndrome:
She was tiny, but she was great, like she was just the cutest thing. And then my husband comes in, and he looked weird and immediately he said, “The baby, something is wrong…” And all I could think of was that she’s blind, I guess that was probably the worst thing I could ever have imagined. But the doctor had just called him and told him that Rose was a Mongoloid. We took a half hour to get it out of him, like he couldn’t finish telling me the story, and then the doctor came in and said, “What your husband just told you is right.” He was, like, very down on the whole thing, very negative. He said, “The only blessing is that they don’t tend to live very long.” So he thought it would be a good thing if our new baby would die. What more can I say? (Rapp 266 – 267)
These responses by doctors show how vitally important the work of the National Center for Prenatal & Postnatal Down Syndrome Resources is. Pro-lifers should support families with children who have Down syndrome or other disabilities, and support organizations that help them.
One of the nicest, happiest couples I have ever known had a son with Down syndrome. What a blessing they have been for many years to thousands of people. And their son was a blessing to so many who were privileged to know him.
With a 2007 signup. Let’s see if it tries to retread.
Hats off to owner for holding the prolife line!
Yeah!!! Thank you Jim for upholding the pro-life values of FR.
60000 Reichsmarks
This is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the Community of Germans during his lifetime
Fellow Citizen, that is your money, too
Read 'New People' - The monthly magazine of the Office for Race Politics of the NSDAP
Ah you did beat to it, GMTA
According to Web MD, the risk that amniocentesis could cause a miscarriage is approximately 1 in 200 to 1 in 400. Even if your false number were correct, no sane person would consider that an acceptable risk to the child just to satisfy the parent’s curiosity over something that would be revealed at birth with no risk to anyone.
http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/amniocentesis?page=3
Y’all are my favorite FReeper Couple.
IATZ
The entire tone of your posts is sickening. Your disdain of those who God sends who are less than perfect is obvious.
Yeah, well scream this from the rooftops as well.
Down's risk to children of older men
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-102697/Downs-risk-children-older-men.html
Oh, and IBTZ.....
I’m with you on that one.
My mother in law knew they would not be able to get insurance for him, so she went to work. Every raise she got went into investments. When the time came she was able to care for him. He lived into his mid 80's. She is still alive.
My point in this is just because some one has a disability does not make them useless. Most responsible people will make all the needed provisions for their disabled person.
My friend was told her baby might have DS, she refused to have the baby tested. They tried to force her, she said no, God has a plan for this baby just like he did for my other children, we accept the responsibility.
Luke came out completely perfect and is now a happy 12 year old.
Actually, you are coming off as EVIL.
I don’t mean to offend Down’s Syndrome children or those parents who make a decision together not to abort.
Regardless of who you "mean" to offend, the fact remains that you are incredibly offensive to God and mankind.
Very odd that you single out the parents who DON'T murder their children.
I don’t see how any of those actions equate to mature or responsible parenting,
Please explain how NOT having a child can be "mature or responsible" parenting.
Despite what you hear at your local Big Murder abortuary, parenting NEVER INCLUDES KILLING A CHILD.
I could go on with the rest of your post, but I really don't care why doctors and scientists think it's a good idea to kill babies.
I'm thinking they might be the same person.
Yes. Suggesting that killing babies is the right thing to do is evil.
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