July 23, 2010 1:05 PM
Down syndrome: how do we judge perfection?
Eric, father to a 7-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, sent me this link:The challenge of imperfection
Why are we exterminating Down syndrome children if they can bring so much joy?
One of the cheerier stories to emerge from the World Cup in South Africa concerned the taciturn coach of the winning side, Spain. Vicente del Bosque's 21-year-old second son Alvaro has Down syndrome. But the coach is immensely proud of him -- even though Alvaro has been highly critical of some of his decisions. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero made sure that Alvaro was invited to his official reception for the team to hold the World Cup trophy aloft.
"At first we cried a lot," del Bosque says about the days after Alvaro's birth, "but now when I look back I think, we were so foolish."
The coach's reaction is quite typical of the parents of Down syndrome children. Despite significant health problems, they normally have a placid, loving disposition which often brings much consolation to parents. Some even say that their Down syndrome child is easier to raise than their other children. As a Harvard University expert, Dr Brian Skotko, puts it, "Parents who have children with DS have already found much richness in life with an extra chromosome."
That's why I found this week's news from Melbourne so gut-wrenching:
"Two Victorian couples are suing doctors for failing to diagnose Down syndrome in their unborn babies, denying them the chance to terminate the pregnancies. The couples are claiming unspecified damages for economic loss, continuing costs of care of the children, and 'psychiatric injury'. Both say they would have aborted their pregnancies had they been told their children would be born with Down syndrome."
Current affairs shows interviewed the parents. They complained about how very hard it is to look after these children, and that they really would have rather aborted the babies had they been given the chance. So now they are seeking damages for their "psychiatric injury" and suffering.
Read more at Mercator.net
Read all my entries on Down syndrome here.
Subscribe to my down syndrome feed - only my articles on down syndrome - here.
Posted in Down syndrome, Pro-Life Issues | Permalink
Comments
Why on earth don't those two couples put up their DS children for adoption if they do not want to raise them? I remember a family in PA who adopted several DS children when their parents decided that they did not want to keep them. There are those who are able and very willing to adopt these children.
Posted by: cath young | July 23, 2010 7:25 PM
I have to wonder about stories like this. Who can be sure these parents weren't psycologically damaged before their children came along? I say that only because we all know someone who is emotionally incapable of being a good parent to any child. I think emotionally struggling parents are more common than children with DS.
Posted by: kelly | July 27, 2010 10:48 AM
