Some mothers struggle when trying to get pregnant with children. Due to this, science has discovered new, advanced ways to create a child. For example, many women undergo IVF treatments to conceive.
Jessica Egan and her husband struggled to get pregnant originally, so they opted to try IVF.
However, they failed the first time—like many other women and couples.
They were so excited when they found out that they were expecting after trying again.
However, at 11 weeks pregnant, a blood test indicated that Jessica’s baby tested positive for Trisomy 21—which is also known as down syndrome.
Jessica said that at first, the couple was devastated because they didn’t know much about the disorder.
“We grieved very deeply for about three days and then my husband and I decided that we wanted to educate ourselves so that we could be happy and look forward to the birth of our baby.”
After their daughter, Gwendolyn, was born, Jessica became an advocate for down syndrome babies all over the web.
Jessica began speaking out about being a mom of a down syndrome baby and sharing her story all over social media so other moms felt seen and heard through the journey.
When Gwendolyn was two-months-old, Jessica decided to share an honest “review” of her daughter on Facebook.
“When I placed my order I said, ‘Regular amount of chromosomes, please!’ That’s what everyone else got and what I wanted too. They called me shortly after my order was in production and said ‘Great news, we went ahead and upgraded you to extra chromosomes for free! You’ll receive the extra chromosomes with your completed order in 9 months.’ What?! I was mad!”
Jessica revealed that even though her baby would have down syndrome, she was happy to have the chance to be a mom.
“All the other orders I had seen displayed via perfect Instagram posts did NOT have extra chromosomes. Well, I decided that receiving my order with extra chromosomes was better than not receiving an order at all, so I settled in to wait for this surprise upgrade to arrive.”
She is absolutely loving life with Gwendolyn.
“I have now had my order for two months and am writing this review to let others know the upgrade to extra chromosomes is amazing!! If offered, definitely take it! I posted some photos below of the finished product and you can see the extra chromosome is so worth it – it is extra cute, extra special, and extra-ordinary! So much extra joy. Would purchase again for sure.”
Her “review” quickly went viral.
Her post received over 347,000 likes on Facebook and many parents expressed their love and gratitude to Jessica for how kind and sweet she has made parenthood to a child with down syndrome.
Jessica was floored by the internet’s response.
“The feedback has been so full of positivity, love, and acceptance that it is overwhelming. I have heard from multiple people who also recently have had a baby with Down Syndrome but are still coming to terms with it and have been in a very dark place. Hearing that my post touched them so completely and helped heal them is humbling, and truly something I will honor for the rest of my life,” Jessica said in an interview with Bored Panda
She added that there are some challenges that she and her husband face.
“This is our first child, so we don’t have anything to compare it to, but we always still wonder how she’s doing and how she will continue to develop. As of now, however, she is developing extremely well and is very accepted by everyone around her. We also have a big support group of other new parents who have babies with Down syndrome and so we feel very lucky and supported.”
Jessica’s story is helping other parents who have children with down syndrome.
“Children with Down syndrome are more like other children than they are different, and it is important not to spend too much time grieving because in the end, you will be so in love with your child!” she said.
