During their pregnancy, many women opt for genetic testing, seeking to find out whether their baby may be born with a disability or disorder. While the majority of these prenatal tests come back showing a normal, healthy baby, other women are often faced with a dilemma.
USA Today explains, “Women who sign up for a simple blood test could, a few weeks later, find themselves considering whether to terminate their pregnancy”— a scenario which happens often in the case of a Down syndrome diagnosis.
Although a Down syndrome diagnosis can cause great fear and anxiety for expecting parents, Matt and Jodie, the parents of two twin girls with Down syndrome, have shared their story with BBC Three, hoping to demonstrate that life with a Down syndrome child is a life that is definitely worth living.
Jodie and Matt’s twin girls Abigail and Isobel were diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth. Jodie details the event, explaining that the girls were premature and had to be hospitalized for 4 weeks before coming home. During the hospitalization, the doctor pulled Jodie aside.
“When the doctor took us to one side to give us the results, the one thing he said to us was that he was sorry that Abigail and Isobel had Down’s syndrome… To this day, I’ll never know what he was sorry for.”
According to BBC Three’s video, more than 40,000 people in the UK have Down syndrome. However, the odds of giving birth to Down syndrome twins is literally one in a million.
Despite a large number of people with Down syndrome living in the UK, abortions for Down syndrome have increased by 17.8% between 2011 and 2013— a number some fear will continue to surge.
New, non-invasive, prenatal testing claims to identify Down syndrome with an accuracy of 99%, says USA Today. Medically, these tests have a low risk of error, however, critics claim that they invite a slew of other ethical concerns— including an increased number of Down syndrome abortions.
USA Today explains that between 60% to 90% of women who receive a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis end up opting for an abortion.
Jodie and Matt, however, say that Down syndrome is definitely not something that should be feared, explaining:
“Life is just a bit more different. Everything just takes a little bit longer.”
Now 5 years old, Abigail and Isobel are thriving in mainstream school, demonstrating that Down syndrome is nothing but a label when it comes to holding these two back.
Father Matt explains, “I have learnt there is no difference between them and [their brother] Finn other than the speed with which they are developing.”
Still, however, critics fear that these prenatal tests will mean a smaller percentage of people born with Down syndrome— this despite the fact that advances in medical technology mean that individuals with Down syndrome are capable of leading longer, healthier lives than ever before.
Brian Skotko, whose sister has Down syndrome, says the issue amounts to asking: “What kinds of life do we consider valuable? And who gets to decide that? Is it the state? Or is it the individual?”
Brian and Jodie hope that these new prenatal tests do not discourage people from carrying Down syndrome babies to term.
They also hope Abigail and Isobel can act as an inspiration to parents everywhere, reminding us all that “a life with Down syndrome is a life worth living.”
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