World Down Syndrome Day:
Information, Resources and Hope
Today is World Down Syndrome Day. Sadly, most unborn children diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted -- often after parents are given poor information and pressured or coerced to abort by medical staff. Most people also don’t know about the negative impact that such abortions can also have on parents and families.
As one mother commented on a news story about a family who underwent abortion after their son was diagnosed with Down Syndrome:
Down syndrome strikes fear into the hearts of many expectant families. ... I have a daughter with Down syndrome and I'm glad to say that Down syndrome is only part of her story and even that doesn't lead to despair. [The newspaper] presents the story of a woman counseled into aborting her unborn baby due to the predicted limitations he would have had. Counseling should be a little more challenging than that surely.
Supporting, and I mean properly supporting, a woman who loves her baby to carry on with her pregnancy is the modern challenge that we face. This woman wanted her baby; she should have been offered much more than a termination.
Here are some articles on prenatal testing, abortion and the impact on parents and families:
The Impact of Abortion After Prenatal Testing: What the Research Says
Prenatal Testing and Coerced Abortion
Psychiatric Disorders Linked to Abortion for Fetal Anomalies
Women Share Their Stories of Abortion After Prenatal Testing
My Sister Has Down Syndrome, Would Abortion Be Okay?
Thankfully, there are also many resources for parents whose unborn children have been diagnosed with Down Syndrome or other conditions. This includes this viral video, in which young people with Down Syndrome reassure an expectant mother about what life with her child will be like. Go here to see more videos from families about how their lives have been blessed by their children with Down Syndrome.
This article has encouraging information for parents who have learned their child has Down Syndrome, before or after birth.
The book Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics, by Melinda Tankard Reist contains powerful stories from women who continued their pregnancies after being advised due to abort due to the mother or child's disability.
This page from Life Issues Institute has lots of references, resources and links for parents, including support groups for parents who have received a new diagnosis.
BeNotAfraid.net is another resource for parents who have received an adverse prenatal diagnosis.
Visit our pregnancy help and help after abortion pages for more resources.
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