Catherina David of Ontario is the mother of four children including Samuel, who has Down syndrome. In an interview with Joanne D’Arc, David describes how she considered abortion when she found out Samuel had Down Syndrome. She made the appointment and arrived at the hospital for the abortion, only to change her mind at the last minute.
A Shocking Diagnosis
David was happy and excited when she learned of her pregnancy with Samuel. When she was five months along, she had a test to detect fetal disabilities. Her doctors told her her baby’s diagnosis David says:
It was a big shock for me … I was devastated just hearing the words “Down syndrome.” I cried the whole day…I did not have the courage to read anything about this on the internet, because all I knew in my mind was that down syndrome was something bad, and I would ask myself: Why me? Why my child?
The doctor told David that she had a choice whether to continue the pregnancy or have an abortion. If she aborted, he said, she would have to go through a labor induction at a local hospital. The doctor promised he would make the abortion “as easy as possible” for David.
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Considering Her Options
David was 22 weeks pregnant when abortion was suggested for the first time.
Some premature babies born at 22 weeks have survived. Shane Alexander gave birth to her son Abel at 22 weeks and he is now home with his family. Another child, Stella Haigh, was born at 22 weeks and three days and celebrated her first birthday last year.
After asking David if she wanted an abortion, the doctor gave her a list of things that could be wrong with her child. He said that Samuel could have heart defects, bowel defects, cognitive delays, problems with brain development, and/or hands and legs that were uneven or shorter or longer than normal.
Pressure and Pessimism?
At first, when asked, David denied that the doctor had pressured her to abort.
Then she reflected more and said, “I have to say that they prepared us for the worst, but not for the best. They gave us the worst possible scenario…” She added, “I was told that ‘every day I keep the fetus, I will face more difficulties because I will experience more trauma for myself and the child.’”
Planning an Abortion For Down Syndrome- and Changing Her Mind
David went to Jewish General Hospital for the abortion. She has a strong religious faith. She had a dream that she interpreted as God telling her not to abort Samuel. Partly due to this dream, she changed her mind about the abortion and decided to deliver and care for Samuel.
David’s doctor offered abortion again when Samuel was 26 weeks old. At that point in pregnancy, testing revealed that Samuel had a heart condition. Again, David refused.
Samuel was born with three holes in his heart and had to undergo major surgery. But he is a healthy baby today.
No Regrets
David says, “[Samuel] is a beautiful gift to us, and we love having him with us.”
When asked if she regretted having Samuel, she replied, “Absolutely not.”
Many children with Down syndrome are aborted. These children are robbed of life, and their parents are robbed of the joy of knowing and loving them.
LifeNews Note: Sarah Terzo covered the abortion issue for over 13 years as a professional journalist. In this capacity, she has written nearly a thousand articles about abortion and read over 850 books on the topic. She has been researching and writing about abortion since attending The College of New Jersey (class of 1997) where she minored in Women’s Studies. This article originally appeared on Sarah Terzo’s Substack. You can read more of her articles here. This article originally appeared on Live Action.
