My diagnosis will not stop me from having more kids 👏

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00:00I have had people tell me that I need to be sterilized, that I shouldn't have had kids with

00:05Down syndrome. My diagnosis will not stop me from having more kids. In 2019, I miscarried our son

00:11that had Down syndrome. In 2020, I gave birth to our firstborn daughter who has Down syndrome. And

00:18then in 2023, I gave birth to our third daughter that has Down syndrome. While I was pregnant with

00:24her, my OB was like, I have never had a patient had this many pregnancies where there was a positive

00:30test result for trisomy 21. But genetic testing left her with more questions than answers. I went

00:36ahead and spoke with a genetic counselor. They did think that I should get testing done. Usually you

00:42can find out through a blood test. But for me, both of those tests came up negative. They told me that

00:49I did not have any genetic abnormalities. So I was like, cool. I guess this was just a fluke,

00:54a happy fluke. I was very happy that I had all my children with Down syndrome.

00:59But her geneticist still thinks there's something not quite right. So the hospital pays for her to

01:04have further testing done. My geneticist calls me back and they're like, you've had way too many

01:10children with Down syndrome for this to just be a fluke. I got the bugle smear done, which is like

01:15this little cotton swab. And they just rub it on your cheek for like 30 seconds. They'll do it on

01:21both sides. They took that sample. They analyzed about 400 cells. Three percent of those came back

01:28positive for trisomy 21. That's how I was diagnosed with mosaic Down syndrome. Her story takes a darker

01:35turn when strangers start questioning whether she deserves to be a mother. I have had seven pregnancies

01:41and I have three living children. Had I not had kids, I probably would have never known that I had

01:47Down syndrome. My diagnosis will not stop me from having more kids, even if I knew for 100% that they

01:54would have Down syndrome. That's not a problem for me and it shouldn't be a problem for anyone else.

01:58One of her children is not diagnosed with the trisomy 21 gene. So she undergoes testing to find out

02:04if she also has mosaic Down syndrome like her mom, or if her chromosomes are all typical.

02:10Mosaic Down syndrome is when you have a portion of typical cells and then you have another portion

02:17of cells that have the extra 21st chromosome. Like in my daughter's case, every single one of her

02:24cells in her body has that extra 21st chromosome. With mosaicism, only a certain percentage of your

02:30body has that extra chromosome. Evelyn's genetic testing came in and the result was she is typical.

02:39Which is awesome to hear. It means that I am capable of having typical children. So that means my chances

02:46of conceiving a child with trisomy 21 is 50%. It's actually super interesting though because obviously

02:52that means that one of my ovaries is affected and one is not. Lillian and Catherine both came from the

02:59same side and Evelyn came from the other side. So if I can find those notes, then I know for sure which

03:05ovaries isn't is not affected.