Dad Refuses to Give Up Newborn Son With Down Syndrome (1 Viewer)

[MC Gas Money]

everyone has an opinion on abortion

My opinion is that i dont care what decisions people make for themselves if it doesnt effect me.

you have never once thought about whether abortion is murdering a child or killing a clump of cells?

I have thought about.I have, or have had, opinions pertaining to individual cases but I do not have a blanket opinion of abortion.

There arent many things that I couldnt think about in many abstract ways.

 

[tri-man 47]

This is a wonderful poem regarding having a child with disabilities.

Welcome to Holland:

http://dsnetworkaz.org/holland/

 

[glumpy]

This is a wonderful poem regarding having a child with disabilities.

Welcome to Holland:

http://dsnetworkaz.org/holland/

That is a wonderful poem.

Reading through this I feel all the conflicting emotions that folks are expressing, both sides, all at once. My heart goes out for the Dad and I know I would be that man. But I feel for the Mother too, because she comes from a place that's not anywhere near as equipped to handle such a burden, and abandoning the baby for her is a necessary and natural reaction. We who can bring together all the resources we need to make this a choice are fortunate, but I would never criticize someone without our awareness.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Can't they notice things like Down's before birth?

Why so you can kill it?

Wait what?

Not you you. Theoretical 'you'. Many choose to terminate if fetus is shown to have handicap.

Does that make them a bad person for doing so?

Yes, it does.

Is this your opinion of abortion in general or are you refering only to the circumstance of the child being handicapped?

Abortion in general.

How do feel about cases where the pregnancy is life threatening to the mother?

This is the last post I'll make on this subject. That's the go-to question for pro-choice advocates. Somehow they think that if you allow the abortion in one instance, you should allow them in all. I think in that case it should be up to the mother.

I take it you are not pro-choice?

How about you take care of all the unwanted children.

 

[The Commish]

Well, yeah....if you don't want kids, then sobeit. If you do, but not "broken" ones, then you don't deserve ANY imo.

I would prefer a non-broken kid to a broken one. Does that make me unworthy?

Not for me to judge. We look at this through completely different lenses. I don't see a child with Down Syndrome as "broken" or "non-broken"

If given the choice, would you prefer that your child to be born with, or without, down syndrome?

Doesn't matter to me. They'd be my child either way

 

[cstu]

Well, yeah....if you don't want kids, then sobeit. If you do, but not "broken" ones, then you don't deserve ANY imo.

I would prefer a non-broken kid to a broken one. Does that make me unworthy?

Not for me to judge. We look at this through completely different lenses. I don't see a child with Down Syndrome as "broken" or "non-broken"

If given the choice, would you prefer that your child to be born with, or without, down syndrome?

I don't have a child with Down's but I do have a daughter with a genetic microdeletion that gives her mainly mild, thankfully, autism symptoms.

Before she was born my biggest fear was having a special needs child but now after 6 years I wouldn't have it any other way. Granted, I'm luckier than many people I know who have more severely disabled kids but I wouldn't change her for anything. She has a unique personality and is the most caring kid I've met. I'm sure (except for the most severely disabled kids) most parents wouldn't either.

 

[Spin]

I think a lot of people here are judging when they have no experience. They have no idea what it is to be faced with possibly having a child for life. Never grows up and leaves. Never has a family of their own. Always need you to be there. That is a hard life. It ends marriages. It causes depression and suicides. It is no easy thing. Now we don't really know how severe this is but we do know that any real level of downs means a life of supervised care at a minimum. With all the financial, emotional and physical costs that come with it. Not for me to judge and I would suggest not for you to judge either.

When my mother was pregnant, they told her I had a 85% chance of not surviving more then a year, due to some lung condition. And if I survived, I had a 85% chance of being handicapped. The doctors asked my parents if they wanted to abort. I did spend the first few months in the NICU, but ended up having a near perfect score on the ACTs, and received multiple division 1 scholarships to play soccer, which I started 3 of my 4 years.

I wonder how many of these kids that were aborted due to their parents being told would they would have some sort of mental handicap, would have ended up living a normal life anyhow. Guess we'll never know.

 

[matuski]

I think a lot of people here are judging when they have no experience. They have no idea what it is to be faced with possibly having a child for life. Never grows up and leaves. Never has a family of their own. Always need you to be there. That is a hard life. It ends marriages. It causes depression and suicides. It is no easy thing. Now we don't really know how severe this is but we do know that any real level of downs means a life of supervised care at a minimum. With all the financial, emotional and physical costs that come with it. Not for me to judge and I would suggest not for you to judge either.

When my mother was pregnant, they told her I had a 85% chance of not surviving more then a year, due to some lung condition. And if I survived, I had a 85% chance of being handicapped. The doctors asked my parents if they wanted to abort. I did spend the first few months in the NICU, but ended up having a near perfect score on the ACTs, and received multiple division 1 scholarships to play soccer, which I started 3 of my 4 years.

I wonder how many of these kids that were aborted due to their parents being told would they would have some sort of mental handicap, would have ended up living a normal life anyhow. Guess we'll never know.

This is different than down syndrome. It is a fairly well diagnosed (near 100% accurate or 100% accurate depending which one you go with). Being diagnosed with downs means you have an extra copy of one of your chromosomes... it isn't some long shot gamble where you may or may not have it.

When you say "some lung condition".. what condition?

 

[Spin]

I think a lot of people here are judging when they have no experience. They have no idea what it is to be faced with possibly having a child for life. Never grows up and leaves. Never has a family of their own. Always need you to be there. That is a hard life. It ends marriages. It causes depression and suicides. It is no easy thing. Now we don't really know how severe this is but we do know that any real level of downs means a life of supervised care at a minimum. With all the financial, emotional and physical costs that come with it. Not for me to judge and I would suggest not for you to judge either.

When my mother was pregnant, they told her I had a 85% chance of not surviving more then a year, due to some lung condition. And if I survived, I had a 85% chance of being handicapped. The doctors asked my parents if they wanted to abort. I did spend the first few months in the NICU, but ended up having a near perfect score on the ACTs, and received multiple division 1 scholarships to play soccer, which I started 3 of my 4 years.

I wonder how many of these kids that were aborted due to their parents being told would they would have some sort of mental handicap, would have ended up living a normal life anyhow. Guess we'll never know.

This is different than down syndrome. It is a fairly well diagnosed (near 100% accurate or 100% accurate depending which one you go with). Being diagnosed with downs means you have an extra copy of one of your chromosomes... it isn't some long shot gamble where you may or may not have it.

When you say "some lung condition".. what condition?

Pulmonary Hypertension

 

[shadyridr]

I think a lot of people here are judging when they have no experience. They have no idea what it is to be faced with possibly having a child for life. Never grows up and leaves. Never has a family of their own. Always need you to be there. That is a hard life. It ends marriages. It causes depression and suicides. It is no easy thing. Now we don't really know how severe this is but we do know that any real level of downs means a life of supervised care at a minimum. With all the financial, emotional and physical costs that come with it. Not for me to judge and I would suggest not for you to judge either.

When my mother was pregnant, they told her I had a 85% chance of not surviving more then a year, due to some lung condition. And if I survived, I had a 85% chance of being handicapped. The doctors asked my parents if they wanted to abort. I did spend the first few months in the NICU, but ended up having a near perfect score on the ACTs, and received multiple division 1 scholarships to play soccer, which I started 3 of my 4 years.

I wonder how many of these kids that were aborted due to their parents being told would they would have some sort of mental handicap, would have ended up living a normal life anyhow. Guess we'll never know.

15%?