A couple have shared how having a child with Down’s syndrome has enriched their lives and changed their perspective.
Victoria and Jamie McCallum opted not to have pre-natal disability screening, discovering their daughter Rosie had the condition after she was born.
Dad Jamie said if they had received positive results for a disability test at the time, in his ignorance he may have considered abortion.
Ignorance
It is often mistakenly believed that children with Down’s syndrome will be unable to live independently and will never be able to learn and process emotions the same way as other children.
In reality, this is not often the case. Rosie is now six years old and is developing only one school year behind other children.
Mum Victoria said: “I was very scared that we’d have her for the rest of our lives, but actually Rosie’s biggest problem about leaving this house is going to be me not wanting her to go.”
Joy
Rosie’s parents also said it is impossible to quantify the joy they would have missed out on if they had chosen to abort her.
Her mum said: “People say it’s changed their way of thinking, just being part of her life. She teaches us more than we could teach her.”
It’s like a government-funded eugenics programme.
The McCallums are now concerned that the joy and value that children with Down’s syndrome have is being undermined by efforts to ‘eradicate’ the condition through Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT).
Jamie said: “Iceland rolled the new testing out and there hasn’t been a Down’s syndrome birth since. It’s like a government-funded eugenics programme.”
Abortion
Rosie’s parents added that it is almost impossible for expectant parents to make an informed decision when all they know is long-standing myths.
Around 92 per cent of babies diagnosed with Down’s syndrome in Great Britain are aborted.