A mother raising a child with Down Syndrome has said she ‘vehemently disagrees’ with comments Jesse Ridgway made about the condition after he and his wife chose to end a pregnancy.
Earlier this week, Jesse — who has 625,000 followers on Instagram — and his wife Ashley revealed they had made the decision to terminate their pregnancy. The couple had announced in March that they were expecting their first child together, with the baby due this fall.
After sharing the pregnancy news, they later learned through testing that the fetus had Down Syndrome, and said that diagnosis led them to proceed with an abortion.
Discussing the situation online, Jesse wrote: “When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic.
“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 continued: “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 conversations with friends, family, doctors, and genetic counselors, he was told that (allegedly) 90 percent of women choose to terminate after receiving a Down Syndrome diagnosis. Healthline, however, puts the figure at 67 percent.
The pair also shared that they plan to try again, saying they hope for a ‘better outcome’ in a future pregnancy.
In response to the couple’s public statements, Kandi Pickard — CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society and a parent to a teenage son with Down Syndrome — weighed in on the remarks.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Pickard said: “When [Jesse] says that Down Syndrome isn’t a blessing, as a parent, I vehemently disagree.”
She added: “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 also said she recognizes that receiving a Down Syndrome diagnosis can feel ‘scary’ for families, but emphasized the importance of ensuring people have ‘the correct and accurate information’ so they can make their own choices.
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