The Scare Of Downs Syndrome

I am constantly hearing testimonies of older mothers who have been told, after having ultrasound, that their baby has Downs Syndrome or other abnormalities. They are then pressured to abort the baby. Even when the couple refuses to abort, it puts a cloud over the pregnancy. Many times, the baby is born absolutely healthy, with no defects. All the worry and heartache has been for nothing. God's grace and sufficiency is promised to us when we face a problem, not ahead of time. If a baby was born with defects, God's grace comes at that moment. A mother does not need the anguish of months of worrying.

And what about the hundreds of babies that are aborted because the parents have followed the advice of the medical profession? Many of these babies are healthy, normal babies. I trust that the following testimonies will be an encouragement to other couples to trust God, who is the One who creates the baby in the secret of the womb, rather than committing abortion, which will leave the mother with guilt for the rest of her life.

WE CAN'T PLAY GOD!

It was April 1996 and I was in my fourth month of pregnancy. I was anticipating spring with the warmer weather and all the fun I would have with my other six children. I had routine tests and screenings with my last two pregnancies, probably due to the fact that I am in my thirties and that is what the medical profession likes to do. They start looking for possible problems.

I received a phone call from my doctor saying, "You are having a Downs Syndrome baby." I went into shock. Weak and trembling, I fell helplessly sobbing into my loving husband's arms. My doctor told me to come to the clinic the next day to talk about it. I felt shaky as my doctor sat down next to me with his big important book of facts. He told me that according to the numbers on my screening that it was very likely my baby would have Downs Syndrome which is caused by an extra chromosome on the 21st set; or he or she would be a trisome 18 which is even more severe, with heart defects and retardation. If this was the case, the baby would only live one or two days. He recommended an amniocentesis test and if the baby were trisome 18 he would be willing to perform an abortion. If the baby was trisome 21, he recommended that I have the baby - if I wanted to. I

I refused the amniocentesis. My precious unborn child would not have his home invaded by a needle and perhaps cause me to miscarry. I told my doctor that no matter what, I would not abort. I wanted my baby.

I did consent to have a level 2 ultra sound. I had until 19 weeks pregnant to get the ultra sound. As the technician looked at my baby growing inside me, she showed us each part and said our baby looked perfect. However, she could not rule out Downs Syndrome. Now it was a 50/50 percent chance of Downs.

I came to terms with the thought that there may be problems with my baby and I tried to relax and leave it up to God. On October 1996, I gave birth to a 9 lbs 5 oz. baby boy! He was born healthy, chubby and beautiful. He is working at crawling and is into everything. He loves his siblings, pets, music and books. He tries to eat the books! He repeats sounds and when he teethes on my hand and I say, "Ouch" he hugs me. I praise the Lord for this magnificent gift. He is the joy of our family.

I shudder to think of the consequences if I had made a bad decision, based on fear and false findings of a man-made medical test. I had a great nephew with heart defects and Downs Syndrome. We lost him at two years old, but in his two short years he won hearts and changed the lives of his family.

We make a huge mistake by playing God in deciding which babies should be allowed to be born. If I am blessed with another pregnancy, I think I will skip the silly tests and trust the One who weaves the baby together in secret in my womb.

LOUISE DONCASTER
Elk River, Minnesota, USA

Bob and Louise have six children, Clover, Chance, Timothy, Nicole, Danielle  and Dylan.

MISSED DIAGNOSIS!

It's hard to believe that only 18 months ago we were a normal family with three beautiful, healthy children and excited that a fourth was on the way. I have been fortunate to be one of those women who cruises through pregnancy and labour. In fact, one thing I have always said was that my job in life was to carry and give birth to children.

However, at my 17-week scan, my husband came with me, believing that it would be a fun to see our baby's heartbeat and its little limbs moving around. After a short while the doctor and the nurse became quiet and looked rather worried. Then came the heart-breaking words, "We are sorry to tell you both, but your baby has a very severe case of 'hydrocephalus', which means fluid on the brain." They told us that this was a condition that is not usually picked up on a scan until the 30 week mark and that the child would either die in the womb, during birth, or just after birth. We were considered "very lucky" as we could just abort, go home and try again. When we asked if there was any chance this child would live, the answer was, "Yes, although it would be like a vegetable and probably never leave the hospital."

It didn't take long for those words to set in. My reaction was to immediately tell the doctor that this was not my child, but rather a child of the Lord. If anyone decided to end its life, it would be the Lord Himself, not me or my husband. It hurt so much to think that someone could look at that little beating life and treat it like a piece of rubbish. The doctor stated that after we had a couple of days to let the news set in that we would do the most logical thing and abort our little baby. But the words of God that "children are a blessing from the Lord" were planted in my mind. God means all children - well or unwell, pretty or ugly, able or disabled. God does not discriminate. He loves all his children and commands that we do too.

Psalm 139:13-15 kept coming to my mind. God says that He makes all the delicate inner parts of the body and knits them together in the mother's womb. He sees each child before they are born and maps out all their days ahead of them. I dreaded the thought of having a child like this, but I knew that God created this little child. He gave me His peace. I knew that He would never leave or forsake me and that He would be my strength. We went along with the pregnancy, feeling very numb.

We didn't quite know how to pray. Did we ask for healing? We both knew what we wanted to happen but we also wanted to be able to accept God's will. In faith, we prayed for healing. In fact we begged the Lord to heal, but if it was not the will of our Father, we would claim His promise to be our strength to guide us in whatever circumstance lay ahead of us.

Five weeks passed. Four doctors had been pushing us to abort our child during that time, for "our own good". It was time for the next scan. We saw the top ultra-sound specialist in Western Australia. He spent a long time looking from one angle, then another. He said nothing. He started tapping his desk, looking again at the scan, scratching his head, sighing, then looking at the scan again.

He then looked at us with a huge smile and said, "There is nothing wrong with this child." You can't imagine how our hearts leapt. They leapt carefully, mind you - because at this stage we had really come to an acceptance of the situation. We asked many questions, one of the first being, "Did they make a mistake?" The answer was, "No." We told the doctor that this then had to be a miracle given by the Lord. However, doctors do not like to hear this. He suggested that since this condition does not reverse he would give the term "medical phenomena" and advised us that this case would go before five ultra-sound specialists to see if they all agreed that the original diagnosis was correct. Elated, he then shook our hands and told us to go home, be happy, and you will have a perfect child. More scans proved that there was no fluid on our baby's brain and that a perfectly healthy brain was developing.

The case did go before more specialists. They all agreed that the original scan proved that the baby had water on the brain, not allowing it to develop and that the brain stem was hanging in the fluid. The second scan was looked at. Again, they all agreed that there was no fluid, a whole brain was present, and the brain stem was standing up, exactly as it should have been. Curiosity made me ask the question, "What was the conclusion of the doctors?" I was told that they shook their heads and went on to the next case. They also mentioned that this would be placed in a book of statistics as having reversed.

The rest of the pregnancy we were overjoyed that our baby had been healed. We were asked if we wanted amniocentesis tests to see if anything else might have been wrong. We couldn't see the point. We would not abort our child anyway.

On July 18th, 1995 Emily Marianne was born. I looked hard at her. She had a beautiful little head and face, quite opposite to what a baby with hydrocephalus would have. It was a special moment.

Our joy was a little short lived I'm afraid. Emily was only about a minute old when the doctor told us that he believed she had Downs Syndrome. My immediate reaction was disbelief, then I looked at her again and I knew. I was terribly upset and told the doctor that they were wrong all along. It was never Hydrocephalus. My faith flew out the window. My doctor then told us that I was wrong. Downs Syndrome had nothing to do with Hydrocephalus - the two conditions were not related. Downs Syndrome could not be picked up on a scan, only by blood test or amniocentesis. She in fact had both conditions all along, one had been reversed (the most horrific one, mind you), one remained.

Three days later the blood test came confirming what we already knew. We cried many tears, it was not as devastating as I imagined. I held, loved and cared for this beautiful, peaceful little baby. I already loved her so much, it just didn't seem to matter.

Emily is now 13 months old. She is the most contented, happy, smiling baby you could imagine. She has done nothing but enrich our lives. We look at her and think that if she did not have Downs Syndrome she just wouldn't be our Emily. We also look at her and remember what could have been, or that she could have died. We were given the opportunity to ask God for His healing hand upon her and He gave it. Yes, she does have Downs Syndrome but she is happy and healthy. She is not sickly, and is developing physically. She is a delight to us and to everyone who knows her and we believe she is exactly the way our Almighty God wants her to be.

LISA KOSSEN

Perth, Western Australia

Ron and Lisa have four treasures, Christopher, Jodie, Carly and Emily.

CLOUDED PREGNANCY

Watching Jesse's little hands as they turn the pages of one of his books, I feel that I am witnessing a miracle. Reflecting back to March of 1995, when I was 20 weeks pregnant, we experienced a trial that could have had a tragic ending.

The doctor, a renowned expert in the field of high risk pregnancy, told me that my baby showed three strong indications on the ultra sound suggesting Downs Syndrome. I felt like the walls of my world were crashing down around me.

I was 37 years old and was being pressured to take the amniocentesis test to confirm, or maybe disprove, what they had found so far. I declined, not wanting to explore this any further. They continued to disagree with me. Their only good argument was that I would have the option to terminate this pregnancy if the diagnosis was confirmed. I adamantly explained that I didn't consider terminating an option.

They called me at home later and persisted, "Mrs. Smith, you should reconsider, and quickly, because we only terminate pregnancies up to 23 weeks." I was 20 weeks. I had stated my position at least three times already. I found the whole situation to be shocking and a betrayal of my trust in them as medical people. I had respected this hospital, as I was employed as a nurse there up until my pregnancy. Now they talked to me about taking my baby's life who I had already watched on the ultrasound as he floated around and sucked his little thumb.

I separated myself from the hospital that day, intending to birth him at home with a midwife. But I couldn't shake the fear that was born in me that day. Neither could my husband. Our marriage was already at a stress point, due to other unresolved issues from the past. This pregnancy had added more stress and I worried that this situation could be the breaking point. What should have been a joyous experience became a heavy burden I didn't know how to bear. I wondered if we would have to deal with it as a broken family. It was a fear that my husband and I could hardly talk about.

Eventually, I began to yield to the gentle reassurance of the Lord telling me that everything was going to be all right. I was never able to completely "shake" what the doctors had said, but I told God, "I'll love this child no matter what the outcome."

Jesse was born July 21st, 1995, after a long, 40-hour labor in the same hospital since I never dilated past 6 cm at home. They had their team of pediatricians waiting as they expected a baby with major problems. He didn't have Downs Syndrome. He didn't have any problems, expect for those caused with their birthing methods - another whole story in itself.

I needed to be reminded that man doesn't know everything, and that it is God we need to trust.

As I experience the joy of watching my two sons, eight-year-old Nicholas, and Jesse, now almost two, with my husband miraculously at my side, now closer than ever, I realize that these miracles can't happen without us making the right choices.

MINNIE SMITH

Old Hickory, Tennessee, USA

IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBILITY!

In December of 1985, the Lord visited me and showed me the husband that I would marry (which happened seven months later). He also showed me a delivery. It was quick, there was little pain, and most of all, it was a little girl. I awoke, thanked the Lord, and life went on.

To my amazement, in June of 1986, the man who is now my husband was on leave from the USMC. I had known this young man all my life, as we had lived on the same street as children.. He invited himself down to check on my mother. We had lunch the next day and we prayed together on our few lengthy visits. He had to head back to his base in a few days, but before he left he asked me to be his wife, the same words I had heard six months earlier in the vision from the Lord. It had become a reality! I resigned from my job, took a plane to North Carolina, and began life as a military wife.

The children came fast , but no daughter. In 1992 my husband had to go away on a military exercise. It was a morning like any other, except I heard the clear voice of the Lord in my heart, "I move in the realm of impossibilities." Before the day was over, I knew why God had spoken to me. I was nursing my three-month-old Phillip (our family had now increased to six children) and the phone rang. It was the doctor telling me that my husband was involved in a 7,2000 volts electrocution. I was breathless. One man was already dead but he reassured me that the military doctors were taking good care of my husband. I called a friend nearby and she asked, "Did you ask the doctor if he had all of his limbs?" That frightened me but I was reminded of what God had spoken to me earlier that morning. He proved that He does move in the realm of impossibilities because my husband is whole today.

This brings me to Miss Rachel Olivia Banks. I was now expecting our eighth baby and we drove to the doctor's appointment. As I lay on the table I pondered why the nurse asked so many questions. Finally she looked at me and said, "It's a girl." Tears of joy swelled in my eyes, but in the same voice she said, "Your doctor isn't here today and so I'm calling in another doctor to talk with you." I knew immediately something was wrong. I looked at my husband and he looked at me, squeezing my hand tightly.

In the softest voice, the doctor informed us that our baby was mongoloid. What an ugly word. What an ugly day this had become. This was the little girl for which I had waited eleven years, the baby who kicked inside me to let me know she was alive, and who made me smile as I thought of her joining our family. The doctor pressed us that a decision about abortion must be made quickly.

The word 'mongoloid' frightened me. I didn't even watch scary movies. All kinds of thoughts ran through my mind. I quickly got dressed, got on to the elevator and to the first floor where I burst into a stream of tears. My husband held me tight. "Remember," he said, "that the Lord told you that He moved in the realm of impossibilities?" I nodded my head in reply. "Yes," I said in a cracking voice.

We made our decision and talked to the children. This baby was our child, she was our gift, and we would love and cherish her just like our other children. There would be no termination and the word 'mongoloid' would never be mentioned in our home.

The morning of July 22, 1996 this precious little girl came forth to see her dad and mom who trusted in the Almighty God. We had replaced all negatives with praise, and buffeted our fleshly thoughts, submitting totally to the will of God.

To God be the glory. She was born healthy, whole and perfect. I forgot where I was for a moment. I lost all sense of time and lay weeping before God. I praised Him so much that the only thing that brought me back to reality was the voice of the doctors around me calling, "Mrs. Banks, would you like to hold your little girl?" I replied with my eyes and held her, thanking the Lord. The doctors were outdone, and brought their colleagues to visit.

As I write this testimony, the extended joy of Rachel Olivia is Sarah Olivia who is due September 16, 1997. She is the tenth pregnancy and the ninth living. My purpose in life is to obey the will of God; even my womb is open for His will. I cannot submit to closing my womb or aborting. Who knows which one will bring about changes, cures, or declare the mighty works of God?

MARIA BANKS
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.

Linton and Maria are the blessed parents of Marvin, Denise, Linton, Joshua, Jonathan, Phillip, Benjamin, Rachel and they are expecting their new arrival September 1997.