Trisomy 18

Since I started blogging, I have come across a number of different blogs but this is one that I keep coming back to: http://fahmer.blogspot.com/. It is about a family living in Kenmore, NY (my hometown) who have a son Jacob who has Trisomy 18. This is a fatal condition-for those of you who had to go through Genetic Counseling like we did, it is one of the things they test for. Babies with this disease have 3 copies of chromosome 18-we normally only have two copies of each chromosome, except for the sex chromosome in boys which is XY-sorry, I really liked genetics in Biology. It is often referred to as being incapable with life. Women who have children diagnosed with this are often encouraged to terminate the pregnancy.

50% of the babies with this condition die in utero. Of those who are born, 90% of them die within the first fews moments, days and weeks of life. There are some cases of children who do survive past childhood, but they have significant physical and mental disabilitities.

After reading about Jacob and other families who have had babies with Trisomy 18, I have come to accept how having a child is truly a miracle. These families are so strong in their faith and so devoted to their unborn child that they carry them to term, knowing and accepting that they might only have a few precious minutes together.