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| Our Little Extras: A Mother's Day Down syndrome celebratio |
Here it is! Please share and rejoice with family and friends. Although this is my gift for Mothers Day 2007, the album will be an ongoing project, so it's never too late to send me pictures to include.
Though I started working on the album a while ago, it seems timely considering the recent news that 90% of mothers receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome are aborting their babies.
The following article in today's New York Times: Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus - should give us all pause.
What makes a person disposable? Those of us who've had children with Down syndrome - and survived to tell the tale :) - would tell any parent that no matter the grieving process they go through at the loss of their dream of a "perfect" child, it doesn't take long to learn that the child we received was actually a gift in a different-looking package.
Here is what I wrote as a brief introduction to the album:
Our kids have a little extra. A little extra enthusiasm, a little extra innocence, a little extra charm. Oh, and did I mention an extra chromosome? The one on the 21st pair that inspires so much fear in parents-to-be.I suppose at one time all of us were fearful about Down syndrome. But take a look at our faces. Who knew how much joy lay ahead?
Having a child with Down syndrome has helped me see there's infinitely more to life than intelligence, beauty and "perfection." Each of us moms has received a gift we never would have thought to ask for, bringing lessons we never knew we needed to learn. The greatest surprise is this:
Our lives with our children have been less about us helping them reach their potential than about them helping us reach ours. This album was created by Barbara Curtis - mother of four sons with Down syndrome - one by birth, three by adoption. Visit me at www.MommyLife.net. And send a picture of you and your little extra to megamommy12(at)aol(dot)com.
Please visit the album and bookmark it. Share it with your mothers' groups and OB-GYNs. Most importantly, share with anyone receiving the news that her baby has Down syndrome and wondering what lies ahead.
Beautiful!
Don't forget to go to Band of Angels to order "Common Threads."