I told all health care providers I would not terminate regardless of the results. I never expected the four termination offers I received from health care providers, or the unsolicited comments by people around me. Such things cut very deeply when you are upset about a diagnosis and trying to get your bearings. Expecting a child who has been targeted for termination brings on additional issues these doctors can not even begin to understand — a heightened sense of self-consciousness being one of them.

I consider myself fortunate that once this hurdle of diagnosis was passed, my doctors were warm and supportive. They protected my unborn child and fostered an atmosphere of joy for her birth. I am truly thankful. In fact, my OB’s teenaged son was present as an observer at my daughter’s birth, and the next year at his pre-med ethics class, he had a very strong voice in a debate based on our experience. He also brought along the book Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives because we are on page 130. I am sure his participation fostered much more constructive dialogue than the moral mandate lectured by this teacher.