A mother of twins has revealed she was repeatedly asked by doctors whether she wanted to abort her son with Down’s Syndrome.
Manda and Richard Grover from West Sussex were trying for a child for several years, and were overjoyed when they found out they were blessed with twins!
However, after an early scan revealed there was a high probability that one of the twins, their son, would have Down’s Syndrome, the couple were given the option to abort and felt they had to repeatedly defend their decision to keep both their children.
44-year-old Manda said: ‘I had waited so long for my babies. The thought that I would be getting rid of one, or even risk losing both was just not an option.’
Their children, Jack and Jessica, are now two and both are ‘just as perfect as each other’, she said. She added: ‘It’s hard to believe that if I’d taken the advice of many people along the line, my beautiful boy would not be here today.’
The couple first went to a GP six years ago after struggling to conceive naturally. It emerged Manda had endometriosis and that my right Fallopian tube was blocked.
She was deemed too old for fertility drugs and was given a referral for two rounds of IVF.
After years of IVF treatments, the couple were told they would be having twins.
At the 12 weeks scan Manda was given a screening test for Down’s Syndrome.
‘After the sonographer did some tests, and got a second opinion, we were told there was a 1 in 50 chance that both twins had Down’s Syndrome.’ she revealed.
‘I was sent for further tests and we discovered that the chances of this were increased. They became 1 in 80 for twin 1 and 1 in 8 for twin 2.’
Manda further explained, ‘‘I was 14 weeks pregnant and my mind was instantly made up, Down’s syndrome or not – I was having my babies.’
The new-mum-of-two went on to explain that at every doctor’s appointment and at every scan, she was regularly asked if she wanted to abort her Down Syndrome son. However, she consistently denied.
Now, Jack and Jessica are two-years-old with adorable, matching cheeky smiles, and both are incredibly healthy and happy – and that’s all Manda cares about!
