My 20 week scan seemed to go on for ages, there were two people using the scanner and they started pointing at things and swapping places but didn’t actually say anything to me. I sensed something wasn’t right and finally blurted out “I’m scared, what’s going on”. They then told us our baby’s head was “lemon shaped” and the cerebellum was “banana shaped” (yes those were the exact descriptions!) and they needed a second opinion before they could confirm anything ...

I remember when Dr. Garcia told us that Mike had Down Syndrome, I was so busy having some sort of out-of-body experience thinking this couldn’t possibly be happening to me, that I couldn’t even remember what Down Syndrome was! Nonetheless it was a real shock. I felt I needed to cry even though my brain hadn’t brought me up to speed with what was actually happening to us.

A few weeks later when we were seeing Dr. Garcia again in clinic ...

Well the day I knew was coming and dreading has happened. Mary and I have left JOG after two whole years! How are we going to cope?

We were told Mary had Downs syndrome 24 hours after she was born. Our world fell apart and I felt as if they had taken away the little girl I had and given me another one that would have a lifelong disability. Then they said it wasn’t Downs syndrome (I hasten to add here ...

It would have been more of a surprise if the doctor hadn’t said anything. He was wearing a neutral, Resigned expression, in contrast to the lighter demeanour that characterised our earlier moments with him.

Charlie was four hours old by now. We didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl and although we had a few names lined up we were quick to settle on Charlie. I telephoned everyone who needed to know ‘it’s a boy …… six ...

It was all quite sombre for a few days. In fact, without wanting to sound too dramatic, there really was something rather funeral-esque about it. All the conversations seemed to involve standing up and talking in serious, slightly hushed tones, and there was a definite sense that telling jokes or having a laugh just wasn’t appropriate.

Except that no-one told Lewis that. He sat in the middle of all the sombre grown-ups, head tilted to the side slightly, and dribbled, flapped, ...

We had Hermione by emergency c-section on 17th April 2004. It was a traumatic labour and delivery and also to find she was such a small baby but many tests were done on her in the first few days, and the only things that showed up as abnormal were small fontanel’s and positional talapes.

All went well for the next 16 weeks. She slept and slept and slept and fed and slept and fed. She never took to breastfeeding, which I ...

I was pregnant and over the moon. I had no sickness and felt brilliant. The scans were fine, I was keeping fit by continuing to cycle to work up until I was about 7 months pregnant and worked until the week before my due date. Debbieverything seemed perfect; all we were waiting for was a perfect baby.

On 10th October 2002, I went into labour. I wont bore you with all of the gory details, but as a result of an ...

Adam was a few hours old when we were told that they suspected he had downs syndrome. I’d had a very trouble free pregnancy and relatively normal birth (if there is such a thing). We rung family and friends announcing our proud new arrival and I had just dispatched my Husband Greg off home with a long list of things we’d forgotten to bring to the hospital.

Dr met Greg on the way out and asked if he could come and have a ...