Day 25: MaterniT21

Really, I don't have much of anything today.  Whew!  Coming so close to the end!  I know the focus should be on topics about Down syndrome this month, but I've had to stray from time to time.  I'd love to go into my thoughts on the new prenatal test for Ds, but I think I just don't have the time to give it any real thought today. 

Oh, what the heck.

Marketing.

That's what it boils down to.  Marketing.  It's not so much that the test exists, but it's whether or not it's being presented in a positive or negative light.  I honestly haven't read too much about it, and don't want to be accused of being one of those people who is voicing a big opinion based on hearsay, but just the name of the test itself is leaving a really bad taste in my mouth. 

MaterniT21. 

Oh, lord, how awful!  It's targeting, directly, Down syndrome, right there in the title (is that seriously what it's called?  I've been too chicken to read most of the articles about it...).  And just the word maternity, implies the warm, fuzzy feeling of motherhood, of maternal instincts.  It's like seeing a big round sign with a picture of 3 chromosomes in it, with a great big red slash through the middle.  No T21.  And while they'll probably all say that it's ostensibly to help people prepare for a child with a diagnosis of Down syndrome, we all know what it's really about...to let people know that they can pursue termination of the pregnancy. 

Termination.

I know not all pregnant women would do that - there are still those who value the life they're bringing into the world, but with a current statistic of approximately 90% of prenatally diagnosed T21 pregnancies ending in termination, there's the absolute guarantee that that number will increase to nearly 95-98%.  Or more. 

I'm heartsick.  To think of all the amazing, positive strides that have been made in the last 20 years to make the world a better place for our chromosomally-enhanced children to grow up in, to make them more accepted and visible, what happens when they cease to exist?  Will they suddenly become pariahs?  Be looked down upon as the ones that were unfortunate enough to have been born, having been born before that miracle test? 

Oh, poor dears, and their poor, poor families.  So unlucky...

I don't want us to be taking steps in the wrong direction, but I feel a shift is coming.  We'll have to fight harder to be seen and heard.  To let people know that our children have a right to be here, to be part of society.  I think it's going to be more important than ever to get to the medical professionals and educate them - the OBs, the GYNs, the geneticists and reproductive endocrinologists, the midwives... We've got to help teach them how to give full information to their patients, not just to give them the easy way out. 

Ugh, too much to say about this.  I'll end with that.  I'm frustrated.  I hope...just hope... that people are smarter than this.  But I think I know better.

(Okay, here's a random old photo of Samantha, taken when she was about 8 months old)