Mother of young girl with Down syndrome says she would have terminated her baby if she found out the diagnosis while pregnant
Writer Hallie Levine, 42, from Stamford, Connecticut, reveals that if she had a prenatal diagnosis she would have obtained an abortion, but she is ‘beyond grateful’ that she didn’t. The mother, whose seven-year-old daughter Johanna has Down syndrome, has spoken out against the banning of abortions following the fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome.
These kind of stories always make me sad. God created this little girl the way she is and this mother unfortunately thinks if she’d known she would be born with Down’s syndrome she would’ve aborted her. I don’t get it, my youngest daughter was a special needs child born with some difficulties mainly her head wasn’t formed correctly the way it normally should be so they had to do a chraniotomy(surgically opened up her skull to make the bones in her head fuse properly) on her when she was very little at Children’s Hospital in Seattle in the early 90’s and some additional brain surgery as well, in addition she’s always worn glasses and didn’t talk much till she was 3 or 4 but with speech therapy learned to talk and hasn’t stopped talking since then. My wife had excellent insurance then because she worked at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane in the lab which paid for all of our daughter’s surgeries, which was a tremendous blessing. She’s the most compassionate of my children because of her early learning difficulties and is almost 27 and graduated with an AA in early child development and is currently working with little kids at the Head Start of one of our community colleges locally. She wants to be a teacher and is working for a while so she can pay for her Bachelors degree. I’m very proud of her and I wouldn’t trade her for the world with all the difficulties she’s encountered in her life. I just don’t understand anyone who thinks that their child would have been better off if they’d been aborted. How can you be better off if you’re dead and never given a chance to live?
“she would have obtained an abortion, but she is ‘beyond grateful’ that she didn’t”
“has spoken out against the banning of abortions following the fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome”
This is not a coherent article.
Would the grandmother have had an abortion had she known her daughter would end up willing to kill children?
What a disgusting human being.
Reading the article and seeing “I didn’t sign up for this” and “I had to make sacrifices” says all I really needed to hear.
A selfish, self centered woman.
I’m glad her little girl won’t ever really understand how her mother felt about her – even as she complains about cost and loss of career.
I wonder what her other children think?
What if one of them has an accident and suffers traumatic brain injury? Will it still just be “poor me – what I’ve had to endure?”
Damn – people who always put themselves first just make me angry.
You are truly blessed by having a special needs child who turned out so well, undoubtedly due in large part to the love and care you gave her, and I cannot commend you enough for stepping up and meeting your responsibility in this situation. However, every case is different. Many times a severely retarded individual can be handled as a child, but when they grow up, they have to be institutionalized for the rest of their life. Who can say if they would have been better off not being born? It’s a question to ponder, for sure.
I’ve not read any of Ms. Levine’s books or articles, and I think I’ll steer clear of her work. By the comments above, I have nothing to learn from her self-centered life. I just hope she doesn’t have bursts of anger at the little girl.
Perhaps those who consider abortion of a special needs fetus, worry about who would care for the child after the parents die. I’ve heard it discussed and it may be a reasonable consideration. Regardless, it is a terrible decision to face.
Our friends have a Downs child, he doesn’t think he is different, to himself he is normal. I watch him on occasion and he is pure joy and I cherish him.
Or is it a coherent article about an incoherent ‘mother’ ? (a MINO?)
Love goes both ways. If this woman does not understand how her child loves her, Coach Gene Stallings can enlighten her.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=21ZVcJUtuW0
the cognitive dissonance is strong with this one.
How is it possible for a human being to desire or promote the murder or slaughter of an innocent baby, child, fetus. Incomprehensible.
Perhaps bringing back public executions for murders would put sense into their empty heads.
“I didn’t sign up for this”? WTF.
I agree that it’s a terrible situation to be in, to know the child you’re carrying is a Down’s baby, or to find out you’ve just delivered a Down’s baby. Never having to be in that place I’m sure makes it easier for me to say all this. I’ll give anybody that. But “I didn’t sign up for this” is just a selfish, callous thing to say and grates on me.
Some people weren’t meant to be parents.
(That is NOT an endorsement for abortion, or the murder of children)
She’s not a coherent woman.
Imagine a few years down the road when she may rely on her daughter to make life and death decisions on her behalf.