Struggling to know what to do

Sorry you are going through this, it is a big worry and I hope you’re okay ♥️ We had a postnatal diagnosis which was a complete shock and we always wanted more children. We thought similar to you about the future and whether it might be seen as unfair on the sibling/s however we have since found out that a lot of things have changed nowadays and people with DS are being more and more independent when they are older due to early interventions and research etc. however we know this would still look a bit different to a typical adult living independently. We thought about if our own siblings had DS and if we would feel like we had to look after them etc and our answer was that we love our siblings and it would just feel normal to do this and not a burden. Our siblings are healthy typical adults but you never know what life holds and they could get health issues/be in an accident etc and we’d still spend time with them and care for them like normal so there is no difference…

They would love their sibling regardless, like most siblings do! I’d do some extra research on DS and see what their future might look like. Have a look on positive about Down syndrome (pads) Facebook and website and also Down syndrome Uk. I also found following accounts on Facebook and Instagram of families who had a child with DS helpful. Xxx

Thank you. That's a really good point about considering how you would feel about your own siblings. I also worry if I terminated the pregnancy because I felt it would negatively impact my daughters life, might she actually resent me for making that decision later in life! That's now a scenario playing on my mind too. I worry about the financial aspect too, if I cant go back to work as early as planned and my partner won't be able to support us longer term. Its all so much to think about, but then I know if we only found out about a disability at birth, we'd find a way to manage. Its so exhausting but ill take a look at those pages ypu mentioned. Thank you xx

Yes money is a worry - we receive DLA for our son and I know you’re also entitled to carers allowance if you work under a certain amount of hours or something. We have been lucky so far and I am returning to work as planned. I know the other mums I speak to have been able to return to work too if they wanted too. Hope everything turns out okay for you x

I am 14 weeks pregnant today and found out last week that he will have down syndrome this has been very hard for me to handle mentally I know I can’t terminate because I just can’t do that but I’m still struggling we have a large family 7 kids I am 42 and my husband is 45 we are just going through all the emotions and worries now.