Just a super quick post.... CNN International is airing a live segment on a beautiful woman who just recently had a beautiful baby girl named Nella who happens to have Down syndrome. Many of you reading this already know about Kelle and her blog...particularly her birth story, which could not be any more raw and honest and well...tear jerking because I related so well with her words and emotions as she learned of her baby's diagnosis...okay so I actually was body shake bawled through it! ;)..but that's not the point, the point is that literally thousands and thousands of people have found her blog from all over the world and CNN caught wind of it and well, today she will be featured! BTW....little Nella is still just weeks old, that's how fresh and amazing all of this is.
Anyway...CNN asked for comments and questions to be posted to their site and well CNN you little stinker you, you didn't post my comment, it didn't make the ranks I suppose, maybe perhaps because my comment contained the A word...abortion. I mentioned in my note how touched I have been by the comments people have left on her birth story post...beautiful, heart wrenching, encouraging comments by people who have not even been touched in some way by Down syndrome but somehow by sweet little Nella's birth she has given people a window into seeing beauty for the first time, instead of stereotypes.
I then went on to say that perhaps my favorite comments have been by women who have just recently received a diagnosis of Down syndrome for the baby they were carrying and that by reading Kelle's story they have found strength to carry on with their pregnancy. That is so huge because...and here comes the A word which probably got me knocked out of the running to be published, but I noted that over 90% of these babies are aborted. To me that number is not a pro-life or pro-abortion issue, but I believe it to be an "I am scared and misinformed" issue. Not to say that it isn't scary and heartbreaking, at first. I was right there, believe me. However, I soo wish that families just receiving a diagnosis would not only receive facts about Down syndrome but that it would be coupled with exposure to families who are raising children with Down syndrome, to see the whole picture...to see beyond the initial diagnosis. To me the 90% number says that there is still the thought that our children are burdens, but if you ask a parent who is raising a child with Down syndrome you would not hear us say that, quite the opposite.... Giving exposure to the world through little Nella just might help make that happen. Soooo, CNN even though you didn't publish my comment ;) I am ever so grateful you saw beauty in this story, in this life as so many of us do!
...And in closing I said, that I was looking forward to watching and cheering on another mom wearing wooden shoes (a Welcome to Holland reference)... seriously, I thought that was a kicky kind of way to end my thoughts..a shoo in to be published...I am not bitter though, I'm not, really! ;)
Okay...so go set your DVR's or watch it live on CNN International! (that's channel 105 for those with Verizon Fios)
Anyway...CNN asked for comments and questions to be posted to their site and well CNN you little stinker you, you didn't post my comment, it didn't make the ranks I suppose, maybe perhaps because my comment contained the A word...abortion. I mentioned in my note how touched I have been by the comments people have left on her birth story post...beautiful, heart wrenching, encouraging comments by people who have not even been touched in some way by Down syndrome but somehow by sweet little Nella's birth she has given people a window into seeing beauty for the first time, instead of stereotypes.
I then went on to say that perhaps my favorite comments have been by women who have just recently received a diagnosis of Down syndrome for the baby they were carrying and that by reading Kelle's story they have found strength to carry on with their pregnancy. That is so huge because...and here comes the A word which probably got me knocked out of the running to be published, but I noted that over 90% of these babies are aborted. To me that number is not a pro-life or pro-abortion issue, but I believe it to be an "I am scared and misinformed" issue. Not to say that it isn't scary and heartbreaking, at first. I was right there, believe me. However, I soo wish that families just receiving a diagnosis would not only receive facts about Down syndrome but that it would be coupled with exposure to families who are raising children with Down syndrome, to see the whole picture...to see beyond the initial diagnosis. To me the 90% number says that there is still the thought that our children are burdens, but if you ask a parent who is raising a child with Down syndrome you would not hear us say that, quite the opposite.... Giving exposure to the world through little Nella just might help make that happen. Soooo, CNN even though you didn't publish my comment ;) I am ever so grateful you saw beauty in this story, in this life as so many of us do!
...And in closing I said, that I was looking forward to watching and cheering on another mom wearing wooden shoes (a Welcome to Holland reference)... seriously, I thought that was a kicky kind of way to end my thoughts..a shoo in to be published...I am not bitter though, I'm not, really! ;)
Okay...so go set your DVR's or watch it live on CNN International! (that's channel 105 for those with Verizon Fios)
4 comments:
Wow, thanks for letting us know about this. It is amazing... this story. She has over 2,000 followers in a matter of weeks. Amazing. It's nice to have a new advocate... I pray there's a positive spin on all of this. Sorry your clever comments didn't get published... I'm sure it was an oversight :-)
I have seen this blog, and a little of the CNN. I'm glad their doing it. I don't follow her blog much just because I prefer the more intimite relationships. I've come to love the people I've met in the blogworld, and she has so many followers that you could never get to know her.
Oh Cheri!!!! Good for you for posing that AWESOME question and comment to CNN...it was a PERFECT question! They missed out on an opportunity to really inform the world...BUT...I haven't seen the story on CNN yet and I'm hoping...JUST PRAYING...that it was done with love and with hope so that the message is still relayed. These babies are NOT burdens...they are pure joy and beauty!
Cheri, you might have checked out one of the blogs I follow, and to which I recently gave a Sunshine Award: Trisomy Tribe. About a year or so ago, Angella who writes the blog posted a video of an interview of herself and her husband that was put on NZ tv. To put things in perspective: they have 5 children born to them - the youndest has DS, and 3 adopted children - 2 of them have DS. In the interview, her husband stated that - though personally he does not agree with abortion, and Isaac who is the youngest they have adopted is one of his children as any of the others, as wanted and as loved - it may have been better for Isaac's birth parents if they had not had him, as they could not cope with the diagnosis, and eventually the marriage broke down and Isaac was put for adoption...
Difficult question, so personal no one but each individual can decide what they think is best for them. But I agree with you, the most important thing is INFORMATION, unbiased information.
And then, I must say this: as hard as it was to hear of Cathal's diagnosis at birth and not before - and I was very angry, and so were his parents, that the test was not even proposed to them, good old catholic Ireland and all that! - his being with us has changed all of our lives forever, and for better. I would not change him in any way!
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