Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The doctor said he was “sorry” my twins had Down’s syndrome – but I wouldn’t swap them for the world

Abigail and Isobel Parry Started at a Mainstream School in September

National Right to Life


Editor’s note. Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD). NRL News Today ran many stories leading up to the anniversary and two more yesterday.

We will, of course, continue posting stories that affirm the intrinsic value of every human being. The following comes from our friends at SPUC–the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

They are mum and dad to identical twin girls, Abigail and Isobel, who also have Down’s syndrome – the chances of which are two MILLION to one.Every child is special, and Jodi and Matt Parry know that even better than most parents

Jodi and Matt are open in admitting that when they first heard their children had been diagnosed with Down’s syndrome – three weeks after their premature birth in June 2011 – they felt it was a ‘life sentence’.

The first words the doctor said to them when they received the news were: “I’m sorry”


Jodi says:  The day our twin girls were diagnosed with Down’s syndrome it felt like a life sentence.That day, I didn’t feel like a mother. I just felt lost and confused. I had bleak visions of the future. I thought we’d be carers until we dropped dead.


Lack of support: Sadly, many families with a child who has a learning disability struggle to get the right support at the right time. This reinforces the negative stereotypes and fears that many people have about people with disabilities.

The doctor took us off the ward, into a bare, clinical side room with three chairs and then uttered the words that have remained stamped on my memory: ‘I’m sorry.’

Everything else he said that day is a blur, that ‘I’m sorry’, the first words that came out of his mouth, is the thing that stayed with us.

We had so many questions. Would the girls walk? Would they talk? We knew nothing about Down’s syndrome and left the hospital with no answers, no information, just fear and dread.

But now, nearly five years later, their family is flourishing. And Jodi and Matt say they want to spread positive awareness and provide support to other parents who may be feeling lost and confused.



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