12 Powerful Things People Said to New Parents of Babies With Down Syndrome
When parents are first told their baby has Down syndrome, the words that come after — whether they’re from a medical professional or loved one — are so important. Recently, we asked members of our Facebook communities the following question: “What’s one thing someone said that really resonated with you after your child was diagnosed with Down syndrome?” These are just some of the powerful responses:
1. “After getting our prenatal diagnosis, I was having a hard time coming to grips with our new reality. A friend told me, ‘She’s still the same baby you’ve loved for the last 20 weeks.’ — Brenda Hickson
2. “Congratulations! He is beautiful!” – Alecia Talbott
3. “Our pediatrician recommended getting the blood test a few days after he was born, raising some concerns. He said, ‘You have a beautiful son; whether he has it or not isn’t going to change the way you love him.’” — Elisabeth Withrow
4. “My doctor told us she suspected our daughter had Down syndrome shortly after her birth. Then she said something like, ‘Regardless of the test results, she is a blessing who will be very much loved by her parents and siblings.’” — Jodi Dielschneider Parsons
5. “It is not what was said, but what my sister-in-law did. When my son was born with Down syndrome, I was 22 years old and devastated. It was a scary, uncertain time, and my sister-in-law came to visit us. She picked him up, cradled him and sang to him. She told him what a precious and beautiful baby he was, and it was then I felt everything would be OK. No one else took the time to acknowledge him in that way. Twenty-six years later, I could not be more proud of our son. He is a beautiful person! — Tara Parham
6. “She is so beautiful.” — Trisha Glover
7. “After our son was born, my husband came back up to the hospital with a stack of books about Down syndrome and said, ‘We’ve got this! We’ll just learn everything we can and love him.’ And that’s exactly what we did. His response set the tone for our whole family.” — Alethea Jo Mshar
8. “A coworker said, ‘I’m so happy for you!’” — Jennifer Weimer
9. “‘Sophia is coming home, Sophia is coming home.’ This was a quote from my son, Sophia’s big brother. He was 2 and just filled with so much excitement and pure joy to hear his sister was coming home from the hospital. [It] brings me so much joy to see how much they love each other and are protective of one another.” — Lynn Amato
10. “Enjoy him being a baby first. Yes, the therapies and appointments are time-consuming and important, but so is nurturing those precious moments that go by so fast.” — Tina Corley
11. “Stop worrying about the future and love him now. He’s a baby like any other.” — Bernadette Maughan
12. “Love her… that’s all you have to remember. Love her.” — Jamie Stephany
*Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Have you seen the first film with a national release to star a person with Down syndrome? Check out the film “Where Hope Grows” today!