Today is World Down Syndrome Day, an international platform for Down syndrome awareness. According to the Down Syndrome International, today can, “help raise awareness of what Down syndrome is, what it means to have Down syndrome, and how people with Down syndrome play a vital role in our lives and communities.”
I have a friend whose world crashed when she was around 20 weeks pregnant. In some ways, she thought it was ruined. She gaped for words and stood in uneasy silence when her doctor diagnosed that her unborn baby was suffering from Down syndrome. All the joys she equated with motherhood, the aspirations and dreams, were erased with one report.
Even though she was overwhelmed with emotion, abortion was never on her mind.
Down syndrome is a condition in which an individual is born with an extra copy of the 21st chromosome (each chromosome has two copies but in Down’s there are three -that’s why it is celebrated on 21/03). This additional genetic material slows mental and physical developments. But its something parents can learn to tackle.
My friend, on the condition of anonymity says, “The first question which was hitting my mind was, why me! But now I can’t thank God enough for Gayatri in my life.”
1 in 1000 babies in India are born with Down syndrome and yet there is very little awareness around it. There are more than four lakh Indians living with this disorder. On the occasion of World Down Syndrome Day, take a moment and read some FAQs: