Sometimes I think too much information can be a bad thing. Lord knows I fell victim to all the books written by all the experts about how to sleep train your baby and get them on a schedule. You can count on it – if the title included something about sleeping all night and babies – I bought it.
I gobbled up as much information as possible while pregnant and made failed attempts to gobble more information when my baby was a newborn.
And then I just put it all away, packed it up and sent it into storage. I’m not sure any of those books made me any smarter than Paris after being threatened with jail time due to her suspended license….in case you don’t know…what’d she do? She got right back behind the wheel, kids.
There must be some kind of aphrodisiac in her car.
Either that or inside her vehicle she has Internet access alerting her to where the largest group of paparazzi are located and how she can best get photographed to appear in all the latest gossip blogs and rags.
But I digress.
Back to those of us with a few more brain cells and well, bigger fish to fry.
While on the subject of is more information always a good thing, today’s NYT reports on the consequences of some additional tests that women are given as part of their prenatal care. Specifically, additional tests to determine whether or not you are pregnant with a Downs Syndrome baby.
And these additional tests are now being given to pregnant women of all ages, not just those who are considered “geriatric pregnancies” (Those over 35. That term REALLY fires me up).
So, the gist of the article is that parents of children with Downs are starting to campaign and spread the word on what life is really like with a Downs child. Not just the challenges but the good and the joy these children bring to their lives. And I completely understand where they are coming from.
These parents are concerned that if people continue to abort their pregnancies upon learning the news, which according to the NYT, about 90% do, then their children will be left alone. They will see fewer and fewer faces like their own. There will be less and less funding for programs to help these children grow and develop.
I don’t know about you, I would be doing just what these parents are doing. I would fight tooth and nail to protect my child in any way possible.
I urge you to you read the piece in the NYT, it’s very interesting and provocative.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09down.html?em&ex=1178856000&en=89ead8e15ae42b24&ei=5087%0A
Thanks for passing this article along. It’s a lot to think about.