These people are a joy. We love working with them.
Posted on 11/29/2007 9:56:15 AM PST by marthemaria
All across the land this fall, people have been gathering to promote awareness and acceptance of Down syndrome. Central to their message is the idea that people with the condition are valued family members who lead happy, fulfilling lives. At the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists have been meeting to develop research agendas to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome, the genetic condition that results when a person has three copies of the 21st chromosome instead of the usual pair. But in the places where medicine is practiced, a very different and less benevolent awareness of Down syndrome reigns. As a result of recent changes in technology and standards of care, women are undergoing prenatal diagnostics for Down syndrome in unprecedented numbers -- often multiple times during their pregnancies. When the condition is detected, they are having abortions at rates that are thought to approach 90 percent. Those of us who actually have relationships with people with Down syndrome, and who see them achieving and thriving in their communities, view this paradox as baffling at best, tragic at worst. We cherish our friends and family members and think their unexpected extra chromosome is not the most important thing about them. And we worry that the relentlessness of genetic testing is amplifying stigma and bias against the 350,000 flesh-and-blood Americans who have the condition, as well as people who have other conditions that are now or soon will be prenatally discoverable. In recent conversations with obstetricians and gynecologists, I've found that we family members aren't the only ones with these fears. Physicians say they're disturbed by mounting demands from prospective parents for nothing less than the "perfect" child,. ..
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I had my last when I was 38, and worried some about the risk because of my age. That was 30 years ago...amnio was suggested but I didn’t have it done. Baby was fine.
40 years ago it was not uncommon to see Downs kids. Now, the only place I run into them is at Mass. Prenatal testing combined with abortion has resulted in a quiet holocaust for these kind souls.
I have seen a few kids with downs and they appear to be such loving and happy children,I would hope if faced with the situation I would have been strong and put my faith with God ahead of my fear for the child after I’m gone. I don’t trust the decency of my fellow human beings not to take advantage of that child.
I find it odd that parents don't want to know---surprises ain't fun.
I've heard this story so many times: the amnio comes back positive, yet the end result is a perfectly normal baby.
The groups we receive are all ages. Not just the kids. Many have mentality of such, however last year there were several over 50.
The way God intended...
Are they 'disturbed' because 1,000,000 + ABORTIONS happen in this country every YEAR!!
That's over 300 WTC's a YEAR!!
He did it on a day I wasn’t there, and we never saw him again (it was a practice with like 10 doctors and you rotate through them so the person who is on call when you deliver is not new to you).
That kind of thing never seems to happen when I am there.
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