When little Caroline was born and I was told her diagnosis of “Down Syndrome” I was shocked, then panicked. I was the first to receive the news and I was floored.
How would you proceed from there. How to break the news to my wife? Before anything else, I went to get information from the doctor, friends and a lot of reading on the subject. A few days after the birth, my wife was already suspicious that something was wrong with the baby. To my surprise, my wife received the news very well, a little apprehensive about what the first care would be like.
We were always very guided by doctors and therapists. Already at 15 days of life we ​​started an incessant work of a lot of physiotherapy, speech and other therapies. As she grew up, we changed the way we treated her. We didn't have any kind of prejudice, we did have some difficulties in finding schools because of how to treat, educate and care.
Every “no” you had in some search for some treatment was very painful, it felt like you had a child with an incurable disease. But as everything in life passes, our daughter grew up happy and showed us all her potential, the simple things in life and that we just need a lot of love to dribble adversity.
Our 31-year-old daughter is happy, gifted, works, does theater, belly dancing and photography, all in her own time.
We get along very well, she is very affectionate and sees life in a simple way, there are never any problems – this, for people with Down, is spectacular – we often see difficulties where there are none. There were difficulties in the beginning, yes, but today, with daily coexistence, I can say that our family would not be the same without her.
My message today for a parent who has or will have a child with Down Syndrome is that God does not cast these angels to Earth without a purpose, and I am so grateful that we were chosen..
- See the testimony of another father and be moved by a beautiful story
