Abortion rate way up for Down's syndrome pregnancies!

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
It seems that new blood testing allows for very early detection that has led to many more abortions if Down's is detected. This must be an agonizing choice, but if it were my choice I would abort. How about you?
 

Well the Amniocentesis test to detect for any serious abnormalities in the foetus has been around for many many years...it's usually carried out between 15 and 20 weeks.
 
It seems that this new test allows for a much earlier detection and perhaps a much less agonizing decision...
 

I saw a PBS documentary called "The Teachings of Jon". Jon has down syndrome. The nature of a down syndrome person puts all of us "normal" folks to shame. They look imperfect to us but they are flawless...beautifully innocent, kind, and loving, never mean. They never offend anyone as all of us have done. They never pervert or destroy. They are actually necessary to us because they evoke a kindness that keeps us human. They are here to teach us that.
 
I think way back before I knew what I know now about Downs children, I probably would have aborted. I think that family pressure would have encouraged me to as they referred to those children as "Mongoloids" and they were commonly institutionalized. Now that more information is out I wouldn't... but of course, that is not something I will ever need to worry about..
 
But a lot of services will have to be provided which are very expensive over a lifetime...
 
So has to be answered by the constant demand on government largesse which is wearing thin. Also, we in the West tend to be more liberal in these matters as we could afford it up until now. But what happens in third world countries to these children?
 
Are you suggesting that all children likely to have a congenital condition be screened for and aborted?
Are we no longer able to care for the lame, the deaf, the blind and the feeble minded among us?

In third world countries people look after these people as best they can, even when it is not easy.
 
They get about a 1,000 dollars a month in Disability from the government.

Actually they get $700 a month, adjusted slightly yearly for cost of living shifts


I saw a PBS documentary called "The Teachings of Jon". Jon has down syndrome. The nature of a down syndrome person puts all of us "normal" folks to shame. They look imperfect to us but they are flawless...beautifully innocent, kind, and loving, never mean. They never offend anyone as all of us have done. They never pervert or destroy. They are actually necessary to us because they evoke a kindness that keeps us human. They are here to teach us that.

I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to puke...While they can indeed be all innocent that is the way they will always be. There's this feeling when you're looking at preschool toys with a teenager that you've been in the toy store WAAAAY too long. Then too it's getting used to the pity stares. You're walking with a child who still babbles and is taller than you. Although she can feed and dress herself, a blessing...she will probably always be around six years old intellectually. Always dependent, try that when you plan retirement.

We did every prenatal test available in 2001 and it still wasn't picked up. You know what my choice would have been had I known.

It's okay everybody...it's not something you understand unless you've lived it. But really don't judge people, don't blame people for making their own choice in such a situation.
 
One less set of chromosomes, three chambered heart, web feet, occasional motor seizures, compromised respiratory and immune system,,who could love such an animal. Always trying to imitate Elvis Presley and believing Olympic Gold medals really mean anything. Can't go play with your friends because they have "special need". Besides who could stare/play in wonderment of a simple toy for hours. Always there with an understanding hug and ready for ice cream. So unless you are willing to give up that golf game and cocktail hour better abort. Next time you see one in public with their head down ask yourself how someTHING could absorb so much scorn. Walk over to them say hi, shake their hand and wonder who is the strongest/better person you or them.
 
This from the U.K.,

................................................................................................................................................................


A COUPLE with Downs syndrome have renewed their wedding vows after 20 years of marriage to show those who said it would never last just howwrong they were.
Maryanne, 44 and Tommy Pilling, 57, first met at the Maybrook day centre in Southend, 25 years ago and tied the knot in 1995.


However, they were subjected to torrents of criticism because of their condition, with many saying their relationship was impossible.
But the couple are still going strong and on Saturday they proved people wrong by walking up the aisle of St Mary’s Church in Shoebury to renew their vows.


http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/134...all_the_doubters_wrong_with_new_vows/?ref=trn
 
Beautiful Story, Bee...Thanks for sharing :)

When I had my last child....a surprise child :) I was 36, and the Dr wanted to do a test, because at the age I was, it was possible that I would have a Down's Syndrome baby. I told him No, I didn't want the test, because I would have and love the baby anyway.
 
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One less set of chromosomes, three chambered heart, web feet, occasional motor seizures, compromised respiratory and immune system,,who could love such an animal. Always trying to imitate Elvis Presley and believing Olympic Gold medals really mean anything. Can't go play with your friends because they have "special need". Besides who could stare/play in wonderment of a simple toy for hours. Always there with an understanding hug and ready for ice cream. So unless you are willing to give up that golf game and cocktail hour better abort. Next time you see one in public with their head down ask yourself how someTHING could absorb so much scorn. Walk over to them say hi, shake their hand and wonder who is the strongest/better person you or them.

I'm taking this to mean you go with the forced birthing side here. I believe women should have a choice in any case if they want to continue a pregnancy. That's a completely separate issue from handicapped children already born.

Of course you need to be courteous. There's a special needs gentleman, maybe about forty, I always stop to let him talk and chuckle along at his jokes. It's important to talk to them at whatever level they understand.

But the topic basically boils down to if you are a woman in your reproductive years would you be prepared to care for an exceptional child? Some women know it would be overwhelming and choose to terminate the pregnancy. We can't judge them. Abortion is an excruciating, heart breaking decision to make. A woman making such a choice doesn't need any more pain.

As far as having a special needs kid...something that makes it bearable is having gratitude in what your child CAN do. She can talk, motor mouth but as a toddler it was suggested she might never talk. Oooh she can talk your ear right off. She can read. Maybe not retain information but she reads well. Happy, enthusiastic, a whiz at video games. Sometimes we'll be in a store with video game displays.

Older kids, particularly boys will be playing and see her come up. Naturally all full of themselves, they think they're just being nice letting a special kid join them. Until she starts whipping their butts at whatever game they are playing. It's funny to see the shock on their faces. She's got big brothers, you guys don't have a prayer.

Something else that makes it bearable is knowing some families have it so much worse. There was a young man at the town pool. We spent most of August going there every day. You learned to tune him out. Maybe 18 years old, perched on the edge of the pool making guttural sounds that echoed for hours and hours. I guess he was happy though. A local shop owner has a son, grown and more than six feet tall. He has a service dog, no speech, difficulty walking, probably unable to take care of any physical needs independently. Compared to his poor family we have it really good ya know?
 
rt3 said:
.....who could love such an animal. .......
Click to expand...


Hmmm, maybe the same statement could be made about 'grandma, or grandpa....anybody know of an ice flow for us to reserve a spot on? An 'animal'???????

Madeline Stuart, Downs Syndrome model http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...restigious-New-York-Fashion-Week-catwalk.html

Father's letter to Downs Syndrome daughter on her wedding day http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...e-on-her-wedding-day-goes-viral-10489348.html

Two year old Downs Syndrome model http://www.boredpanda.com/down-syndrome-model-toddler-girl-connie-rose-seabourne/

Nine people with Downs Syndrome who've had successful lives http://liveactionnews.org/9-successful-people-with-down-syndrome-who-prove-life-is-worth-living/




Like everything else in life, it's a matter of degrees and perspectives. I'm sure some families have not had 'success' but others have done well. So referring to somebody's child as an animal is just not cool.
 
[h=2]WELCOME TO HOLLAND[/h]by
Emily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
 
Back some years ago, I investigated a baby's death that was stated to be maybe 1-2 months old and was found in a trash dumpster. The Coroner certified the death as being by suffocation. The child was also stated to have Downs Syndrome. We did not have DNA at the time and only had the baby's blood type to use as an investigation tool.

Our lead Detective decided to ask the public for help by stating all of the facts that we had in the local newspaper, along with a picture in black and white of the blanket the baby was wrapped in. The blanket had an unusual pattern to it. A lady ID'd the child as perhaps belonging to a woman that she was friends with. She said that she was pregnant and when it came time to give birth she disappeared for a few months. The next time she saw her, she had delivered, but no baby around. She asked where the baby was and she said the baby died at birth, but did not seem to be distraught. The lady recognized the blanket as "looking like" a blanket she saw at her house because of the unusual pattern.

Later, blood tests were positive to be a match for the father of her child and she finally confessed. A blood test alone was not going to get an indictment to arrest her. The confession sealed the deal. It was a sad day in the barracks. Very quiet, that's for sure.
 
Another reason to remember why abortion needs to be legal and safe. At our age it should be a no-brainer. If you're too old for an unwanted pregnancy at least keep it open to future generations. We don't have to go back to the age of the coat hanger. Safe Haven is a help but still not enough. Before Roe v. Wade and Safe Haven there were so many deaths of women and babies, because there was no choice.
 
fureverywhere said:
Another reason to remember why abortion needs to be legal and safe. At our age it should be a no-brainer. If you're too old for an unwanted pregnancy at least keep it open to future generations. We don't have to go back to the age of the coat hanger. Safe Haven is a help but still not enough. Before Roe v. Wade and Safe Haven there were so many deaths of women and babies, because there was no choice.
Click to expand...

fureverywhere, you seem to be very defensive as if people are judging you for some reason. I certainly am not. It takes courage to decide to have an abortion and even more courage to decide not to have one when you know that the baby will have severe problems and require care and attention long after other children have become independent. Downs syndrome is not the only condition where this decision is faced. Cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy are heart breaking genetic conditions that can now be tested for where there is a family history but the choices are not easy.

We have a young relative with osteogenesis imperfecta and her life has not been easy but it has been a life worth living. One of my grand daughters has triple X syndrome and when it comes time for her to start a family she will need genetic counselling and possibly IVF treatment to select an embryo that is unaffected. Even then she will continue to need the help of her mother and grandmother to raise a child who could be much brighter than she is. As long as I am alive I will be there for her.

Parents who devote themselves to their handicapped adult children carry a huge burden and I do not judge any who decide to terminate a pregnancy when faced with such a future. Safe, legal terminations must be available and no-one should pass judgement on those women/couples who decide that they need one.
 
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