Every mother wants to ensure that her pregnancy goes smoothly and that her baby remains safe. So when this young mother went to her doctor’s appointments during her pregnancy, she was given some news that did not make her feel differently about her fetus.
She was told that her fetus had Down syndrome, and doctors, of course, made a suggestion to abort the pregnancy. Instead of doing that, she carried the baby to full term and, years later, wrote to the doctor about what it was like being a mother to a child with Down syndrome.
Mothers always want the best for their children. Courtney Williams Baker is the mother to Emersyn, a little girl with Down syndrome. When she went in for her general pre-natal checkups, she was told by doctors that her child had Down syndrome. She and her husband were advised to terminate the pregnancy, but they refused to do so.
In 2016, she wrote a letter to her doctor when little Emersyn was two years old. She started the letter off by talking about her friend who had her own pregnancy similar to the couple. She wrote, “A friend recently told me of when her prenatal specialist would see her child during her sonograms, he would comment, ‘He’s perfect’,” wrote Courtney. “Once her son was born with Down syndrome, she visited that same doctor. He looked at her little boy and said, ‘I told you. He’s perfect’. Her story tore me apart. While I was so grateful for my friend’s experience, it filled me with such sorrow because of what I should have had.“
She went on to express how it hurt her because she wished she had been treated with the same compassion as her friend had been with her Down syndrome pregnancy.
“I wish you would have been that doctor. I came to you during the most difficult time in my life, I was terrified, anxious and in complete despair. I didn’t know the truth yet about my baby, and that’s what I desperately needed from you. But instead of support and encouragement, you suggested we terminate our child. I told you her name, and you asked us again if we understood how low our quality of life would be with a child with Down syndrome. You suggested we reconsider our decision to continue the pregnancy.“
She went on to explain how she would dread her appointments with the doctor after that. She wrote, “From that first visit, we dreaded our appointments.” Adding, “The most difficult time in my life was made nearly unbearable because you never told me the truth. My child was perfect.“
She talked about how Emersyn had given a new meaning to her life. She wrote, “You see, Emersyn has not only added to our quality of life, but she’s also touched the hearts of thousands. She’s given us a purpose and a joy that is impossible to express, and she’s given us bigger smiles, more laughter and sweeter kisses than we’ve ever known. She’s opened our eyes to true beauty and pure love.”