World Down Syndrome Day is Friday
Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008
BENTONVILLE - The call came on Oct. 27, 2004. The few words - your unborn baby has Down syndrome - changed Stacy Reed's life in ways she couldn't imagine.
"I was four months pregnant, 16 weeks along, when the doctor notified me," Reed explained. "I was told that I had until I was 24 weeks to make a decision about whether or not to end the pregnancy. I've since learned that 90 percent of women who learn through the amniocentesis testing that their babies have Down syndrome decide to abort. The rest of my pregnancy was miserable for me. I wanted to do the best thing for all of us. I just wasn't sure what that was."
Today when Stacy plays with her almost 3-year-old daughter, she only regrets one thing - all the worrying before Carly was born.
"She's such a beautiful, healthy little girl, just like any other little girl," Stacy said as she and Carly laughed on the den floor of their Bentonville home. Carly's family also consists of her dad, Charles, a teenage sister and a 5-year-old brother. In her family, Carly has earned the nickname "Princess."
Serving as vice president of the Down Syndrome Connection of Northwest Arkansas, Stacy devotes lots of time to educating people about Down syndrome. She shares her own story with audiences to help dispel the myths about the syndrome. The Connection group has approximately 70 families participating. Especially important to Reed are her oneon-one visits with families who have recently received news that their baby, born or unborn, has Down syndrome.
Reed and other members of the local Down Syndrome Connection of NWA group will be at an information / advocacy booth at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville on March 21 to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day. That particular date was chosen because 3 / 21 = extra third chromosome, the condition responsible for Down syndrome.
"We're More Alike Than Different," is the national Down Syndrome Congress' latest ad campaign.
"That's really the message we want to get across," Reed said. "We want the public to realize that people with Down syndrome are ordinary people leading ordinary lives - lives of value. I coined a phrase, ' Yes, there is a cure for Down syndrome - it's called acceptance. ."
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