Category: Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome)

D&E

A foggy winter morning

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genetic abnormality

I called the abortion clinic with a program for genetic abnormalities. Through sobbing, I managed to make an appointment for the following week to terminate the pregnancy. by Nicole K. On a foggy winter morning, I pick up the baby’s ashes at the post office. It’s just eleven days after his death. The small, square box is conspicuously labeled “Cremated Remains” which manages to even silence our chatty neighborhood postal clerk. I walk back to our minivan carrying a nearly weightless box while feeling the weight of the world. It takes a while for the tears to stop enough that I can drive. I bring […]

D&C

My World Ended With That Call

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I began to love this little baby inside me. And I was sure it was a girl—I even came up with a name. By Anonymous I am 34 years old. I’m originally from Russia and I just got my U.S. citizenship. I am married (it’s my second marriage) and I have a wonderful husband who is originally from Iraq. We have a five-year-old daughter together. I have no other kids. My First Pregnancy I have never gotten pregnant with my husband without wanting to. It took us almost five months to conceive our daughter. This only happened because I read somewhere that Mucinex thins mucous secretions and allows the embryo to implant […]

D&E

No Miracle From God

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miracle from God

After all, I did not get a miracle from God. But God gives me the support to live through it. By Irina Like many women here I had never imagined that I would have to have an abortion. I thought I would always choose to keep a baby despite any financial situations, or not having a partner/husband to support me. But it never occurred to me that a child could be sick and the decision to terminate a pregnancy would happen because of this. Deciding to have a second baby With my first child, my son, the pregnancy went smoothly. I was 40 when our son turned three years old […]

D&E

The Right Decision for Our Family

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The Right Decision for Our Family - Termination for T21

…to spare everyone a future with lots of pain, suffering, burden and resentment, I made a choice I never thought I would make… By Lauren On October 22nd we found out we were pregnant. I was so excited, but also so nervous about  having a newborn again. Our routine as a family of four was getting “easy” – both my kids slept through the night, they only took one nap and I knew what to expect of their personalities. Nevertheless, I wanted one more and we were lucky to get pregnant on our second month trying. I already had one girl and one boy and this […]

Fetal Hydrops

Mariana

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Mariana - Terminating after hydrops, cystic hygroma, and T21 diagnosis (Down Syndrome)

It was almost like she came out in her bubble, protected from the outside world. By Andrea My husband and I were excited when we found out that I was pregnant. We have a three-year-old daughter and this baby would have been born around the same time our daughter started kindergarten. Everything happened as planned; it was a very expected pregnancy. The first ultrasound was at 12 weeks. I wasn’t very concerned. It was probably because we didn’t have any problems during our first pregnancy and our daughter was born healthy. Even though my husband really wanted to be there, he couldn’t make it for […]

Congenital Heart Defects

Ethan’s Story

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Trisomy 21 - He said my baby would never be a special Olympian and would need immediate, emergency heart and bowel surgery. And that was if the baby made it to term.

God met me where I was. While He didn’t give me the miracle I had hoped for, the one I had prayed for, miracles came in other ways, through my friends, family, and the nurses and doctors taking care of me. By C.J. This is Ethan’s story–my youngest son. It started out much like I thought for a third pregnancy. I have two healthy children, a girl, age five, and a boy, age three. I was sick with morning/all day sickness. When you are that sick and you have been through it twice before, it is hard to be too excited, but my husband and […]

Stories

Hope Crushed

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Trisomy 21 - The hardest part in all this was wanting her so badly.

The hardest part in all this was wanting her so badly. By J.G. After having a miscarriage at eight weeks this year, I found out I was pregnant again at around six weeks. I was excited and nervous to be pregnant so soon after miscarrying. I made it past the eight weeks scary zone and I had my first appointment with the genetics counselor at 12 weeks to determine any risks associated with my pregnancy. We opted to do an ultrasound and the new cell-free fetal DNA (Panorama) testing. The ultrasound looked wonderful and showed no soft markers for any kind of birth defects. I […]

D&E

Our Baby Boy

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Down Syndrome - After the amnio results came back confirming the diagnosis, we were faced with the reality that our baby boy was not okay.

After the amnio results came back confirming the diagnosis, we were faced with the reality that our baby boy was not okay. By J.D. I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), so when my husband and I decided to try getting pregnant earlier this year, we had a difficult time finding that “window” due to my irregular cycles. We were referred to a fertility office where we started months of testing to narrow down the issue and come up with a plan. My husband tested fine and it was determined that I had plenty of eggs, they just weren’t ovulating themselves. We would do ovulation induction […]

D&E

Much to Reflect On

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These zealous women didn’t know me, or the pain I was going through. Didn’t know that I was already a mother who desperately wanted another child. Didn’t know my fetus wasn’t healthy. Didn’t know I was a medical professional who of course understood her alternatives.

D&E

Real, not hypothetical

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by R.S. I was living abroad with my spouse and our 2-year-old daughter when I found out I was pregnant. It was an enormous but welcome surprise. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and it had taken over two years of fertility treatments and two rounds of IVF to conceive our daughter. I didn’t think I could get pregnant spontaneously, and had planned on doing IVF once we moved back to the US a couple of years later. I wanted to be happy, to celebrate the pregnancy, but it just seemed too good to be true. So at first I anticipated miscarriage. Every time I used […]