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NEWS I Can Live With
Today is March 21 AKA 3-21
AKA World Down Syndrome Day!
"Why today?" you may ask?
Down syndrome is also known as Tri-somy 21 because there are three (tri)
strands of chromosomes instead of the typical two strands on the 21st
gene. The majority of people possess 46 genes in each of their cells
(23 from dad and 23 from m...om) and those born with Down syndrome (a
condition not a disease) have one extra chromosome on the 21st pair. That
"overexpression" on the 21st gene is the start of why people with Ds
often have similar traits. The important thing to remember is that
EVERY person with Down syndrome actually looks and acts more like their
own family members and other human beings than they might be different.
God has designed each of us as a unique human being with strengths and weaknesses, gifts and possibilities. If you have never seen what a karyotype is (chart of chromosomes) here is what one with Down syndrome would look like. Take notice of the 21st pair....
 HEALTH & FITNESS NEWS
National and Oregon health and wellness information and medical news
Down syndrome offers clues to fighting cancer
May 23, 2009, 5:00AM
Down Syndrome Myths Drive Decision
<Tess & Hope Fuller
And without knowing what it's like to raise a child with Down syndrome, many women will make their decisions based on misinformation -- and myths -- about the disorder, researchers say.
Nina Fuller's two daughters with Down syndrome: Tess, who is 15, and younger sister Hope. Her fears about having a child with a developmental disability "never materialized." (Courtesy Nina Fuller)
The genetic diagnosis often comes as a shock, and many people assume that raising a child with Down syndrome will be fraught with heartbreak.
But McLaughlin was lucky to be connected with First Call, a program sponsored by the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, which introduced her to a family with a 5-year-old girl who has the disorder.
"She played hide and seek, and she kept jumping out, telling us where she was hiding," McLaughlin said. "She was amazing. I was thinking she would be sitting in a chair unresponsive and drooling.
"Actually, she was much like our other children," McLaughlin said. "We thought, maybe we can go forward."
McLaughlin said she worried about how the child would affect her siblings and the marriage, and who would look after her when she and her husband die. But according to a study by Skotko, whose brother has Down syndrome, siblings are patient and compassionate. As for the marriage, some couples do experience stress in raising a disabled child, but many grow closer.
"I am concerned about mothers making that informed decision," he said. "Are they making it on facts and up-to-date information? Research suggests not, and that mothers get inaccurate, incomplete and sometimes offensive information."
One Connecticut mother who terminated her pregnancy two years ago after a Down diagnosis said her doctor "didn't paint the brightest picture."
The news was devastating, said Laurie, a 37-year-old saleswoman who did not want her last named used. "We truly felt that we were falling apart."
She learned she was carrying a child with Down syndrome after having difficulty getting pregnant with her second child, and then a miscarriage. It was the right decision for her family, she said.
"After much soul-searching, we decided to terminate the pregnancy at 14 weeks," Laurie said. "We had a beautiful, healthy baby girl almost a year later. I think about our unborn baby girl quite a lot and only recently was able to get rid of the early ultrasound pictures of her."
And although she had never met a child with Down syndrome, she said, "I don't know if I was a strong enough person to raise a child like that."
ABC News
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