First I wanted to share an email correspondence Paul Daugherty [whom I clearly admire] had with a prospective father of a child who could have Ds [was awaiting bloodwork for a diagnosis]. I’ve always enjoyed and shared Paul’s perspective now that we’ve found our feet.
Scared & Sad
I still firmly believe even a child with “just” 46 chromosomes is equally hard to raise to be a good and valuable human being! Just because you come with an extra chromosome does not mean you are automatically tagged worthless. I know lots of worthless people with just 46 chromosomes! Ha ha!
The new non-invasive prenatal testing unfortunately may steer many families to not move forward with a child who has Ds. Some think it could even cause a drop or [theoretically] extinction of the Ds community. Wiping out a entire group of individuals because they aren’t “desirable?” Again, outdated fears, myths, and misconceptions. It’s a touchy subject for sure, and I can only discuss it based on my own experience...
Prenatal Testing
Finally, a happy follow-up to that crazy story from Armenia about the man who left his wife in order to keep his son born with Ds. The Mother came back and realized how wrong she was. Again, cultural misconceptions and pressure to rid of those with Ds. Leo now lives in NZ where he gets therapies and is thriving. Not to mention, he is a crazy adorable nugget!
Little Leo
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