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After calling the office 24 times I finally got through and the doctor told me that my AFP test came back as an “increased risk” that my baby had Down Syndrome but that often these tests are false positives. After 12 long days, my doctor called me and stated that the NIPTs blood screening came back that I had a 1:2 chance that my baby boy had Down syndrome. Soon after I received the definite diagnosis of Trisomy 21, I contacted one of my past co-workers who at the time had a 4-year-old boy with Down Syndrome and told her our news. had many play dates, attended multiple weddings, cruised Toys-R-Us before they closed, watched fireworks, went to the zoo, was licked by a buffalo, kissed his Great Great Grandmother, participated in his first buddy walk, went to the movie theatre, graduated level 1 swim lessons, has been to many high school football, basketball, and baseball games, went sledding, rode a pony, sat on Santa’s lap, picked a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, and has made some of the BEST friends along the way!

You mean sincerely that the new baby may look like every other baby and you truly may not notice the marked characteristics of a Down Syndrome diagnosis. They already know that it could be so much worse, they have thought that themselves, but then they feel guilty for thinking that this is bad in the first place, they feel guilty for comparing their child to others who have more significant disabilities, they go back, in a circle of emotions, to feeling bad that they are so sad in the first place. Don’t say , “Downs kids are just so special…” What you mean is you want to be an encouragement, you want your loved one to know that it is going to be okay because you have heard of, or you know of someone with, Down Syndrome It is a very little nuance, most of us parents will let it slide, but we prefer not to have our child defined as a Downs child.

On Christmas Eve I came in from work and my wife was sitting there and told me we were having a little boy!! Right after telling me that, her eyes filled with tears and she told me the test for Downs Syndrome came back positive for our son. Time went on and the agonizing weeks past so slow you can’t imagine. That’s what matters and it matters because he matters and has blessed us with and life that I never knew was possible.

As we got to know them we decided that if we went ahead with creating an adoption plan for the boys, this would be the family. We still didn’t know what life would look like raising the boys, but when do we ever know exactly how the map of our life is laid out? So far they have helped debunk myths about what Down syndrome is like, encouraged others to support adoption of children with Down syndrome, connected other families of children with Down syndrome with our local support system, and brought countless smiles to the faces of everyone they met. Read More Twins are rare but Identical twin girls Down Syndrome diagnosis are beyond rare, like winning the lottery!