Mom of son with Down Syndrome responds to influencer couple's decision to terminate pregnancy following diagnosis
A mother who has a child with Down Syndrome has said she 'vehemently disagrees' with Jesse Ridgway's statement about the condition after he and his wife decided to terminate their pregnancy.
Earlier this week, Jesse – who has 625,000 followers on Instagram – and his wife Ashley shared that they had made the difficult decision to end their pregnancy. The married pair had announced in March that they were expecting the first child together, who was due this fall.
Since sharing their news, the couple have received a fetal Down Syndrome diagnosis and decided to terminate their pregnancy as a result.
Addressing the matter, Jesse penned online: "When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic.
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"If they're a little slow intellectually, then we'll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may... but I just didn't fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed."
He went on: "Down Syndrome isn't a 'blessing,' it is objectively sh*tty from a health perspective.
"I didn't realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family... more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life."
Jesse also said that after speaking to friends, family, doctors and genetic counselors, he was informed that (allegedly) 90 percent of women chose to end their pregnancy after learning the baby has Down Syndrome. Healthline, however, says this figure is 67 percent.
Jesse and Ashley plan on trying to conceive again and shared their hopes of a 'better outcome' next time round.
Following their candid admission, Kandi Pickard, CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society who has a teenage son with Down Syndrome, has spoken out.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Pickard shared: "When [Jesse] says that Down Syndrome isn't a blessing, as a parent, I vehemently disagree."
"There's statistics out here from individuals with Down Syndrome and also from their families that 99 percent of people with Down Syndrome are happy with their lives and they like who they are," she continued.
"99 percent of families say that they love their children and they're proud of them. I think that this is valuable information to understand."
Pickard went on to say that she understands that your child getting a Down Syndrome diagnosis can be 'scary', but it's important that people have 'the correct and accurate information to make their own decisions'.
For help, support and advice about abortion, contact the National Abortion Hotline on 1-800-772-9100, 8am-7pm ET Monday to Friday or 8am-4pm ET Saturday to Sunday.
Niamh Shackleton