The bond a mother has with her child is like nothing else.
When this young woman was told she had to make a decision about her pregnancy, she acted quickly.
Continue reading to learn more about this remarkable story…
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.
Her fetus was diagnosed with Down syndrome, and doctors, predictably, advised her to terminate the pregnancy.
Instead, she carried the baby to term and wrote to the doctor years later on what it was like to be 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 began the letter by mentioning a friend who had a similar pregnancy 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 remarked about how Emersyn had given her life new meaning.
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.”
If you liked this story, you might like the one about how this mother wrote a letter to her kid to show him some harsh love.
