Courtney, a mother from Florida, is no stranger to being pregnant. She is already a mother to two beautiful girls and was pregnant with her third, already named Emersyn “Emmy” Faith. However during her pregnancy, Courtney’s scans revealed that Emmy had Down syndrome. Looking to her prenatal specialist for care and support, Courtney reveals that she found something other than what she expected from her medical professional.
Instead of providing support and care like Courtney had hoped, her doctor instead suggested that she terminate her pregnancy. When she refused, the doctor did not back off but instead put more pressure on her to abort Emmy. Her doctor tried convincing her to terminate by explaining how her daughter would have special needs and that her entire family would suffer due to taking care of Emmy. Courtney refused to abort, but she also had a lot of things she wanted to say to her doctor about the treatment she was receiving about her decision and how she was being treated. At the time however, she lacked the courage to do so. Emmy is now 15 months old and thriving. Courtney has now found the courage and the right words that she wants to say to the doctor who pressured her to terminate her pregnancy. She mailed a letter to the practice, and posted it online. The letter has now gone viral.
In that letter she told her doctor how a friend hers told her that her prenatal specialist would say “hes perfect” every time they viewed a sonogram of her son. Once he was born and they discovered that he had Down syndrome the mother went back to the doctor and he said to her, “I told you. He’s perfect”. Courtney said that the story touched her so much because on one hand she was grateful that her friend had that loving experience but on the other she wishes that her doctor could have been more like her friends. It tears her up to think that her doctor is out there still telling patients that they should abort their babies with Down syndrome. During a time when a mother needs support, care, and encouragement, this doctor is instead pressuring them to do something they may not want to do.
She goes on to tell the doctor that Emmy is perfect. She is an added joy to the family and has shown them what pure love means. She is sad that the doctor does not see the awe and wonder in the sonograms he sees everyday and that the passion is lost. Most of all, she hopes that the next time this doctor encounters a mother who has a child with Down syndrome in their womb that instead of pressuring to abort, they will instead say “Your child is perfect”.
