Sunday, 26 April 2009
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Can You Handle The Truth?
by Mama Pig 
This is the first day in many that I have had time to actually read the news. I saw a teaser earlier about something Sarah Palin admitted. I passed over it a few times and then curiosity got the best of me.
At a right-to-life event in Indiana, she admitted to considering abortion when first learning of her youngest child's diagnosis of Down syndrome. I have no opinion of her politically; I honestly don't keep up enough with those things to offer thoughts. Hearing her admit such a thing really doesn't shock me. If I had to be honest; had we learned of Emily's diagnosis prior to her birth, I can promise that thought most likely would have entered my mind. It would have continued to pass on through, but it would have entered nonetheless.
Palin comes across brutally honest and I must say I found it refreshing. She comments that one of her first thoughts was she wasn't even sure what a child with Down syndrome would look like. Not a great thought, but one I can totally admit to having as well. I am not proud of having such a thought, but I absolutely did. Thankfully, I had amazing doctors and nurses surrounding me and giving me the most current information available.
We all know how I feel about my beautiful little beauty queen. She is the light of my world and I wouldn't change one single thing about her. However, if I had to go to that deep dark part of my brain; I would have to admit many of those thoughts would have been bouncing around my brain as well.
I know without a doubt that Matt and I would have continued with the pregnancy no matter what, but those questions would have been put out there. Could we handle it? What will he/she look like? How will the other children handle such a thing? The answers for us were moot. We didn't know until after her birth and by then we were totally in love with our beautiful perfect girl. Oh, and by the way; yes we can handle it, she is totally the most beautiful little girl in the entire world, and the other children adore her.
Now, I am unclear if she was doing this to gain political favor with a certain group. I have heard that some politicians tend to lie. Shocking I know. The fact for me is, I don't care. We are both part of a private club. Most people really don't want to join, but once you do, you find out it is a really great place to hang out. I appreciate her honesty (even if it was for political gain).
Sometimes the truth hurts; but it doesn't make it any less true. To read the article click here.
I still stand beside my "education before scare tactics" thoughts. If you tell people that it isn't a death sentence, but a learning experience; the hope is that these thoughts won't enter another person's mind.
I realize this was kind of all over the place, but hopefully you get the idea. I wasn't educated on Down syndrome prior to having Emily. The information that I did read those first few days terrified me. The doctors and nurses got me more up to date information and spoke with me about the realities of life with a child with Down syndrome. That was when I discovered this was not going to end our lives, but enrich them in ways I couldn't even begin to imagine.
Sarah Palin admitted a hard truth today. I am still waiting to find out the consequences. As for me; Sarah, I don't always like you (in fact you really pissed me off with your ridiculous outrage over the Special Olympics incident), but we are part of the same club. Thanks for the honest talk today. Now don't go say something really stupid and make me regret this post.
What thoughts would come to your mind if you found out your unborn child might have Down syndrom?
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About the Author
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- From: mamapig
- Name: mamapig
- About Me: Hello everyone. I am Mama Pig. I am a very busy mom of eight children. Five by birth and three my marriage. While it is a busy life, it is one I wouldn't change for the world. Our oldest is 18 and will be graduating in May. We are even in the boys/girls department with four each. Two just turned 14, two just turned 12, one will be 10 this year, and the babies are 4 and 2. There are no twins in the mix, just step siblings that happen to be close in age. You will read alot about Down syndrome when you read my blog. Our youngest daughter was born with Down syndrome as well as a congenital heart defect. These are two issues I am extremely passionate about. I just resumed classes at the local community college. My goal is to someday reach law school with the hopes of focusing on family law.
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Comments (13)
If not for the circumstances under which I fell pregnant, I also would have thought, it would be so easy to just take care of it. No one would ever have to know. These thoughts came to my mind when I first found out I was pregnant, regardless of the baby's health. When I found out she had Down Syndrome, I had already become fiercely protective, and it would not have changed my mind at that point.
I think Sarah Palin is great personally, and you have to be careful what the media says about her because the media sucks.. That's a different topic though. I have to be honest. There is a chance for me to have a son with Fragile X syndrome. I don't know much about it, but my brother and nephew are both affected and both are mentally challenged. It scares to me think about having a boy because what if that were to happen?
But here is what I have concluded: I will love my baby no matter what, and I will never abort a baby because of a test result. My brother and nephew are both sweet, incredible young men and the world is a better place because they're in it. I will treat my children the same way. There is no way I will miss out on a blessing because I am afraid of what might happen.
We were told my daughter had a god chance of being born with Down Syndrome. We did not do an amnio due to our history of miscarriage. My husband and I had talked about what we would do if there was an abnormal finding or a chance of something and we decided we would not abort. So having had that conversation beforehand made it easier for me to put the thought of abortion out of my head. Even though I did panic and worry the rest of the pregnancy for nothing (she was born without Down's), I often wondered how we would have handled it.
I didn't really have that option, since my husband is very involved in TTC and the pregnancy, and since his sister has Down's, he would not have let me ever abort a child for that reason. So when it came time for prenatal testing, I didn't worry about Down's since there were no hard decisions to be made.
I did have terrible worries about things worse than Down's though, especially since we lost my first pregnancy. Things like the other trisomies, severe neural tube defects, and other things incompatible with life. Then it would have come down to the awful choice to end the pregnancy so I could start trying again for a healthy baby, or try to enjoy what time I had with one that would not live.
there is no way I could ever take the life of my unborn child.
EVERY child is a gift from God. And those who are blessed to carry a special needs child have an even more precious task because they have been chosen to care for one of God's extra special children.
How would you answer that child when you get to heaven when they ask why you aborted them?
When I was pregnant I wouldn't even get the test that tests for down syndrome or any of those other things. I didn't want to spend my whole pregnancy worried when I knew if we had a baby with special needs we love him or her no matter what.
Well it depends because honestly, if I get pregnant before I want a kid I'd abort whether it would turn out healthy or not.
However, when I have finally reached the point in my life where I can sit down and agree, that having a kid is a nice/good idea, then I'll have the kid, no matter what the defect.
If I end up having a child with down syndrome then so be it. If I end up having a child who is 100% healthy, then great! Even better!
@mycontinuity@xanga - that is exactly how I feel! Just because my son or daughter might have downs syndrome does not mean that I would take the easy or "lazy" way out and abort. Your child is your responsibility no matter what challenges God may throw your way. One of my best friends has a slight case of downs syndrome and I love her to pieces. I dont even want to think about what life would be like if she weren't around.
Had three pregnancies in four years. First was born with severe neural tube issues and lived only a couple of hours. Aborted the second when the fetus had been dead for several weeks. Third time I took the tests and luckily there were no issues, but I always wonder what I would have done if the results had been different.
You can't say that having an abortion is the "easy" or "lazy" way out. Just because something is not right for you, does not mean it is not right for someone else.
I personally don't think that abortion is the answer, but who are any of us to point fingers. We do not know what someone else is going through. To call someone lazy is simply disgusting. Shame on you.
I am totally pro-choice, but I knew with both of my pregnancys (pregnant with number two right now) that I personally could not end them. Of course, that means that I had to actually consider the possibility of ending it first. I don't think it's crazy at all to admit a consideration of abortion, nor do I think it means that you love your children any less-pregnancy is by it's very nature an emotional time for a woman.
That all being said, I commend those courageous enough to nuture their special children. I'd like to think that I would love my child just the same, but I don't know for sure what I would do.
I feel like my mother would blame me for not having an abortion in the first place when she wanted me to not have the baby after announcing my pregnancy.