Yesterday morning I heard something that really made my blood boil for the first time since Wade was born. I got into the car to hear a local celebrity scientist on the radio discussing an item from the day’s news. Recent research has developed a technique for potentially shutting down the extra chromosome in the cells of a person with Down syndrome. The short term implication is the potential to develop new gene therapies to treat some of the health issues more commonly associated with DS such as hypothyroidism, leukaemia and early onset Alzheimer’s. The wider implication is that this technique may be used to ultimately turn off DS in the embryonic stage effectively “curing” it.
It wasn’t this in itself that made me angry, it was the description this scientist gave of Down syndrome. She called it a “devastating” condition. There was joy in her voice as she described how this discovery had the potential to eradicate DS all together. And I thought to myself…this is my son they are talking about here. Maybe I’m just an over protective mother ready to leap to the defence of my child (well, I was when I fired off my aggrieved text message into the station!!) but it also had me thinking about what is really at stake here.
Embracing Wade 