Why Blog About Alexi?

We try to keep things lighthearted around here. Life's just more fun that way. But, as you may have noticed, we feel it is pretty important to get our message out that Down Syndrome is ok. Why is this so important to us?

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." ~Marie Curie

Sure, we want to make certain people are comfortable with Alexi, knowing that she is more typical than, well, her own father. But, we also think it is important for people to know how awesome life is with these kids, so that we can hopefully save a few lives.

How can we save lives by spreading awareness about Down Syndrome?

Well, there have been amazing breakthroughs in science and medicine that allow mothers to have a simple blood test to determine whether or not the child they are carrying has Down Syndrome. This is much safer than past testing which could have resulted in a miscarriage, just for having the test, no matter if your baby had DS or not. This is also much more reliable testing. The previous testing left a 40% chance of a false positive, meaning 4 out of every 10 babies "diagnosed" with DS, didn't really have it at all. The risk factor and inaccuracy made a lot of people decline the test (as my wife and I did) because there was not much to be gained, but you could lose your baby (which was not acceptable to us.)

"It sounds to me like babies are safer now."

They are much safer from the test itself, but not from their own parents. It has been a proven trend that the birthrate of children diagnosed with DS has dropped dramatically. This has been the case in every single country that the testing has been made available to. In fact, 9 out of every 10 babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome through prenatal testing are terminated. A 10 percent survival rate? We don't think that would be the case if people really knew what life could be like.

It was announced in October of 2011 that testing is approved for 20 major metropolitan areas in the US with more widespread availability in the coming months.

We are in no way against the testing, or pushing a political agenda. We know the choice is in the hands of the parents, well mother really. We also think the testing is a fantastic breakthrough and a great tool to aid in preparation. We are simply here to encourage people to educate themselves before making any decisions.

"But life would be so different than we always hoped for." Yup. It will be different alright. But not worse. We would change absolutely nothing. Alexi has given us a completely different set of experiences that we wouldn't have had any other way. Our lives were changed, but they were definitely changed for the better. We've met some amazing people, and become better people ourselves.

I'm not saying there aren't tough times, in fact, finding out was our toughest. But that was because we were uneducated. Knowing what we know now, things would have been much easier for us, this is what we want people to know. Down Syndrome is OK. We're not saying it's better than having a typical child, but we're definitely saying it is not any worse.

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