Something to think about and a way to help LUCAS!

Yesterday, I met with the head person (Dr. B) at the local elementary school about getting Elijah started with some therapy services. (We didn't start this process right away, as nothing was "urgent", so I decided just let him hang out for awhile before starting. Speech therapy is my biggest concern right now. Anyway...) We peeked in on the OT room and the Early Childhood room. A friend had told me that she didn't think there were any kids with Ds at the school. So I asked. "Are there any children with Down syndrome in Early Childhood?" "No." "Are there any children with Down syndrome at the Elementary school?" Pause. "No."


Hmmmmm....no kids with Ds (receiving services) from age 3 to 5th grade...Now, we don't live in a super huge school district, but it's not teeny-tiny either. Maybe 5-6 classes/grade? But, it just seems like a lot of kids to me to not have ANY kids with that extra special chromosome. We (we meaning us in the RR advocacy world) rant about how awful the societies are in EE countries that these special children end up in horrific orphanages and institutions. And how could the doctors tell mothers and fathers to just leave their baby at the hospital and get on with their life? How can those mothers just walk away? (I'll tell you though, Elijah's birth mother thinks about him EVERY day. She has told me so. I'm so thankful she gave him LIFE.)

Well, that is the beginning of a long post that I started a couple of weeks ago. The post goes on from there, but I'm not going to publish the rest of it. It wasn't very coherent and turned into a bit of a rant, and will probably come across as being judgemental. But the very next day, I saw the following post on my friend-in-real-life's blog. It said exactly what I was trying to say and she's a much better writer than I am. With permission, I'm posting it below. Please see the end for more information about Ruthann and the super sweet baby boy they are adopting. They are almost done with their dossier!
 From Ruthann...
A few weeks ago, a new prenatal test for Down syndrome was in the news. It is non-invasive- only a blood draw from mom in her first trimester. And it's accuracy is phenomenal. This means that nearly all babies with Down syndrome would be found prenatally.


"Currently, 92% of all women worldwide who receive a definitive prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to terminate their pregnancy. Based on those numbers, what does the future hold for the Down syndrome population once the new prenatal tests are available? The answer lies nestled in profoundly personal decisions, but still raises an important question, one that will be asked more and more frequently as other forms of prenatal testing come to the market: which forms of human genetic variation are valuable, and which are not?"


There was a comment left that was very inconsiderate, uninformed, and by all means uncaring of life given by God.


"If you can prevent suffering, wouldn't you? Perhaps something like Type II diabetes -- a disease that is usually adult-onset and easy to manage with proper attention -- wouldn't be worthy of an abortion, but something as serious and disabling as down syndrome? I know that the individuals who have it often lead relatively good lives, but they die young and often suffer quite a bit during their lives.

I would urge the parents of these children who advocate against testing or termination upon a positive test to examine how much of their opinion is based upon their own need to care and love for their child. Yes, your child is likely wonderful and kind -- most people with down syndrome are incredibly nice -- but are all the struggles they go through worth it? Wouldn't it be good to abolish something as clearly problematic as down syndrome, to effectively cure it?"



A mom, blogger, special needs advocate felt the need to respond to this person, to try to show them that people with Ds, and other 'disabilities' do not suffer. And they are definitely worthy of life.

Please take the time to go see her response (and watch the video- it's worth it!)
 
 
Ruthann had another great post about children with Ds here. But see, she and her husband have already adopted a child domestically with Ds. Isn't that cool??? I want to give you the opportunity to help Ruthann and her husband bring home Lucas. It is so VERY FUN have another RR sweetie coming to our area. I met Ruthann back in Sept at Ds support group Mom's Nite Out. Plus, her sweet little Lucas (listed as "Aleksey" on RR) is at one of our family's favorite orphanages! I can't really say why for his protection, but just trust me. :-) (And no, he's not at Elijah's former orphanage.) Ruthann is doing a very unique and beautiful fundraiser to help raise the funds for Lucas' "ransom" - Glass etching! Please check it out here and here. Don't need any beautiful glass pieces? If you feel led, please drop some money into their Family Sponsorship account to help with their in-country travel expenses. Just click on Lucas' button on my left side bar (right below Noah's) and it will take you right where you need to go.
 
Plus, ONE more thing for those of you local!  Michelle, who introduced me to Ruthann, is hosting a "Thirty-One" and "Scentsy" party on St. Patty's Day to help raise funds for Lucas' (Aleksey) adoption. All the details are HERE. Maybe I'll see you there!