Recalling…
Jennifer and David decided to do the chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test. After finished the test, they started to worry about the test result. What will they do if the result indicated that the baby is abnormal? Are they going to abort the baby? They prayed…
Below is the poll result that we gathered from the readers. There were 6 of the voters thought that David and Jennifer should keep the baby even though the result shown that the baby is abnormal. You may see the poll result in Sunday Drama Series Part 2.
Sunday Drama Series: Mom of a Child with Down Syndrome (Part 3)
Three days later, there was a call from hospital.
“Dr. Josephine, how was it? How was the result? Is my baby normal?” Jennifer showed her nervous and anxiety.
“Jennifer, I need to see you and talk about this in details. Can you make a trip to my office?” The doctor seemed like serious.
“Alright, I will go to the hospital with David now.”
David embraced Jennifer to his chest. Both of them felt uneasy. Something undesirable is going to happen in the next moment. When they reached Dr. Josephine’s office, they knocked the door with anxiety.
“I’m so sorry to tell you that the result shown that your baby is chromosomal abnormal. He has trisomy 21. That means your baby has Down syndrome,” Dr. Josephine said. She felt sorry to tell them about this sad news. She cannot see any expression other than disappointment from the couple. Her responsibility now is to help them to make the best decision for the next move.
They looked deadpan. Everything became different now. The joy of having a baby suddenly disappeared. However, David had prepared for this sad scenario before he came to the hospital. He knew that they have to be strong at this critical moment.
“Dr. Josephine, can you explain to us about the abnormality?” David asked question.
Dr. Josephine started to explain about the abnormality to the couple. Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome is a chromosomal abnormality that because of the alteration of the chromosome number. Normal human has only two chromosome 21. However, the baby has three chromosome 21. Some of the symptoms of Down syndrome are mental retardation, short stature, eyelid fold, flatter face, stubby fingers and so on.
“Is it serious? Will it cause any problem to the baby and mother?” David continued to ask questions.
“It depends to the severity of the abnormality. Sometimes, this might cause the dystocia (the difficulty during delivering). Sometimes, this might cause the miscarriage. Unfortunately, we cannot determine the severity of the abnormality with the prenatal test currently,” the doctor elaborated.
David and Jennifer stared to each other. They looked depressed and hopeless.
“Dr. Josephine, what should we do now? We do not wish to lose this baby,” David begged Dr. Josephine weekly.
“I will arrange a counseling section to both of you with our genetic counselor, Dr. Bellion. I’m sure he can help you for this circumstance,” Dr. Josephine tried to comfort them.
Jennifer could not hide her sorrow anymore. She was lying on David’s chest and cried. She did not know what to do and she did not wish to think anymore. David is her only reliance on now. She would rather to let David to decide everything.
To be continued…
Kok Siong’ Chitchat
Unfortunately, the baby is abnormal. The baby is a Down syndrome baby. As we all know, Down syndrome is a common chromosomal abnormality. What should they do now? We have discussed about this last week. Most of the voters wish to keep the baby even though the baby is abnormal. So, will they keep the baby after meeting the genetic counselor?
Another thing that I wish to highlight in part 3 is about the genetic counseling. Most of the people do not aware about the availability of this service. For your information, all of the genetic counselors are well-trained. They need to master a lot of knowledge before they are qualified to be genetic counselor. They need to be a geneticist. They need to be a medical doctor. And they need to be a qualified counselor. Therefore, it is not easy to become a genetic counselor. Thus, if you have any genetic problem and wish to seek for advice, please do not hesitate to seek the advice from those qualified genetic counselors. I am sure that they can help us to make a better decision when dealing with the genetic problems.
Your Opinion
There is no any poll for you to vote this week. However, I still wish that you can leave your opinion in the comment form below. Try to put yourself in their situation. What will you do?
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No, please do not abort. I have a friend who was told she would have a baby with Down syndrome, and the baby turned out to be a normal child without this syndrome. Even if your baby does have Down syndrome, you will discover the most loving child you’d ever imagine. There are many people who can help you know what to do to help your child become all he or she is capable of being! You will find many other parents with this same situation. Our son, Jeff was born in 1961 with Down syndrome, before all the research was done, before programs were there to start helping children at a very young age. I invite you to read, “Journey With Jeff; Inspiration for Caregivers of People with Special Needs,” which I wrote so that no one needs to feel they are alone. (Available at Amazon.com) God bless you in your journey!
Yes, you are right! I will go to read your book. Do you have any copy of this book?
Really great post Kok,
This is really unfortunate
The mother should not abort the baby, who knows, they might come up with something different.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
Thanks a lot Onibalusi! We do not know what will happen next. But, the fact is, the baby is abnormal. If the mother really wish to have this baby, she has to accept this fact first. Hope that you like it!
I have worked with people who have down syndrome and different degrees of MR in Group homes mainly older adults. I will not lie it will be hard but as is life for numerous different occasions. What I do know is when somebody is a part of your life they become hard to forget. All my clients had a special unique thing about them. A distinct personality that I found to be not unique to anyone else on earth. When the day ended with happiness, falling into a peaceful slumber with me tucking them all into bed, it is then I wondered about all they endured in the Institutions we use to put them in and the abandonment of their families they So longed to be with and have. Now a days we have so many more programs and support for people with disabilities, there is no need to send them away or be embarrassed like the 1930′s or even 50′s. It really comes down giving love and being loved back, which can take understanding and lot’s of patience, time and tough times as with any child. This baby is now a part of you, and I am pro choice but this isn’t the issue, because you already knew you wanted a baby. I think it is about being brave and giving it your all like this father who said about his disabled son “Mr Payne said: ‘Ralph has reminded me that life isn’t perfect. But as a parent and a human, I owe it to him to make him as happy as possible.’