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Doctors respond to parents of Down syndrome newborns with cruelty and callousness
Live Action ^ | Sarah Terzo

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 Leach describes how he and his wife felt abandoned by the medical establishment and how the hospital gave them outdated and scant information about Down syndrome.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.


TOPICS: Conspiracy; Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: abortion; downsyndrome; healthcare; medicine; prolife; trisomy21
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To: Morgana
“...older eggs have a greater risk of improper chromosome division. By age 35, a woman's risk of conceiving a child with Down syndrome is about 1 in 350. By age 40, the risk is about 1 in 100, and by age 45, the risk is about 1 in 30.”

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/down-syndrome/basics/risk-factors/con-20020948

It has been screamed from the rooftops for 30 years to past-prime parents that they have a much higher risk of bearing children with severe genetic anomalies. Doctors will strongly advise in emphatic terms for testing of both parents for tell-tale genetic markers - both before and after conception - as this woman's doctor did.

The mother in this article was too lazy to test, too irresponsible and too selfish to involve her own husband in testing, and then gets offended that the medical staff is incredulous of her stupidity. I'm sure she'll be even more offended when hubby walks out the door.

21 posted on 07/24/2014 2:05:00 PM PDT by blueplum
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To: JenB

I’m not trying to be mean but is your 20 yer-old brother employed or employable? And do your parents get government subsidies to support their Down’s son?


22 posted on 07/24/2014 2:06:05 PM PDT by bluedogpdx
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To: bluedogpdx; Morgana
Hey blue, maybe you should have tried smiling first? That usually works for me.


23 posted on 07/24/2014 2:09:33 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Really.)
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To: blueplum

What is your point?

Do you think that some lives are more valuable than others?

Do you think foreknowledge of a potential problem exonerates a person for choosing to kill their own offspring?

At what point is a person not a person? When is it OK to cull the herd?


24 posted on 07/24/2014 2:12:05 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: bluedogpdx
Once in a while, I see a Down’s Syndrome parent shopping or doing something with their “child”, even though they usually look like adults, and, you know, I’ve never seen even a hint of a smile or a look of contentedness by any of these parents.

Ever!

What's your point? Should we perform euthanasia on the Down syndrome humans because you don't see a smile on their parents faces?

I worked with a really nice guy. He had one boy and was pregnant with his second. Lo and behold the child was born with Down’s syndrome. He was beside himself. His wife would call and they would argue. I even heard him say, “it's the BIG R....we need to face up to it”. He was more than upset at the situation. But he worked it out with family and help from organizations who specialize in this condition. Him, his wife and all 3 kids (he had another boy a few years after)did everything together. He was a good father and his wife and all 3 kids loved him. At age 47, some 12 years after the birth my friend and coworker had a massive heart attack and passed to his reward. At the wake I was heartbroken watching the child, then a 12 year old, break down and cry and wail for his best friend his dad.

25 posted on 07/24/2014 2:14:00 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: Morgana
When my friend's son was born she asked her mother if he had Downs Syndrome and she told her that he did but nothing else was said by the doctors or the nurses.

There was no doubt that he was going to be loved but when you have a child that isn't perfect you have to come to terms with it and accept the gift you've been given. We spent the whole day coming to terms with it.

Almost 16 hours after he was born a doctor came in and checked him out and told us what we already knew, that he had Downs Syndrome. We all nod our heads and he just thinks we are in denial not that we have discussed it all day, not that we hadn't bawled our eyes out and then felt guilty. And I mean what are you going to do? Put him back in and start all over? The Dr. did tell us that he was healthy and didn't seem to have some of the health issues that other DS children had but then started telling us all the grave things that could happen. Like we didn't have a clue.

I'm happy to say that he's now 11. He has diabetes and Celiac’s but otherwise is healthy. He's pretty smart but nonverbal but he's learning sign language. Everybody loves him not just family. He is happy and loving and well-loved.

26 posted on 07/24/2014 2:18:34 PM PDT by tiki
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To: bluedogpdx
Once in a while, I see a Down’s Syndrome parent shopping or doing something with their “child”, even though they usually look like adults, and, you know, I’ve never seen even a hint of a smile or a look of contentedness by any of these parents.

Hey, thanks -- it's good you went so far as to put the word child in "quotes", just in case anybody was still on the fence about what a sad piece of crap you are.

27 posted on 07/24/2014 2:22:16 PM PDT by workerbee (The President of the United States is PUBLIC ENEMY #1)
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To: Morgana
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!”

**************************

I've experienced this kind of attitude from a doctor. It's ugly.

28 posted on 07/24/2014 2:23:25 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: bluedogpdx
"And pro lifer absolutists lost most of the moral standing I used to imagine that maybe they had with me awhile ago."

For what specific reasons?
29 posted on 07/24/2014 2:24:18 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Vaquero
I would disagree with any who would say .."I've never seen a hint of a smile or a look of contentedness by any of these parents"...of a Down's Syndrome Child.

I have two regular customers who have adult children as this who are not only content but we all enjoy their visits when they come there. And least we forget there IS this


30 posted on 07/24/2014 2:26:56 PM PDT by caww
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To: caww

Wonderful pics! They bring a smile and tears to my eyes at the same time!


31 posted on 07/24/2014 2:28:54 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: bluedogpdx

Then you’re not looking.


32 posted on 07/24/2014 2:29:37 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: bluedogpdx
"I’m not trying to be mean but is your 20 yer-old brother employed or employable? And do your parents get government subsidies to support their Down’s son?"

You ARE mean, if adopting a Nazi eugenicist perspective is mean. And I think it is. I personally think that the government SHOULD assist parents of children with severe disabilities, because the medical costs are typically out of the reach of ordinary families.
33 posted on 07/24/2014 2:29:37 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: bluedogpdx

This is a pro-life site.


34 posted on 07/24/2014 2:30:14 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Jim from C-Town

God bless you and your wife.


35 posted on 07/24/2014 2:30:57 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

He does, all the time. We just wish he would have let us keep him. We miss him every day.


36 posted on 07/24/2014 2:32:27 PM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: bluedogpdx

Guess what, perfectly healthy kids are a “burden” too.


37 posted on 07/24/2014 2:35:31 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Jim from C-Town

I hear you. There seems to be a special bond between these children, their parents and families. One of my nephews is married to a woman who has a Down’s brother. He is much loved.


38 posted on 07/24/2014 2:36:09 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

Trigg’s going to grow up to be a fine citizen of our country....and I suspect he’ll more than a few words to say to people who would think otherwise of special needs children... I admire the family very much and their great love for their family, as well as this country.


39 posted on 07/24/2014 2:37:03 PM PDT by caww
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To: bluedogpdx

He’s eighteen, thanks, and not through with high school; but yes, he is employed and employable. There are a lot of menial tasks that need warm bodies and hard workers. It’s none of my business whether they get government subsidies but since they homeschooled 6 children, never taking a dime of government assistance, and then adopted multiple children from foster care, thereby saving the taxpayers a good bit of money, I think they’re a net tax-paying unit anyway.

But even if they were, it still doesn’t give anyone the right to say that my brother’s life isn’t worth living, or that he’s a burden on society. We don’t get to make those decisions.


40 posted on 07/24/2014 2:37:54 PM PDT by JenB
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