I have a new hero in Sarah Palin

Nina Fuller presenting Sarah Palin with an I Can Read, Too! reading program.

As a parent of not one, but two daughters with Down syndrome, I have a new hero in Sarah Palin. I, too, received a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome when I was carrying my fourth child. Knowing full well my options, I chose life for the baby in my womb, even after my own life was significantly compromised. It was a win-win choice because today my daughter is a valuable member of our family, our community, and our nation. I also knew in advance of our second daughter's birth that she, too, would have Down syndrome.

Some who read this statement will immediately jump to the conclusion that I should have stopped having babies after my fourth child was born. I did. Our second daughter was scheduled to be aborted because her birthmother thought that was her only option after getting a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Hours before the appointment to terminate the life growing within, she acknowledged that she did not want to parent but wanted to choose life for her baby. She learned of another choice she had instead of abortion: adoption. It really is a loving option. Several weeks later, she gave birth and I became a mother of a second beautiful baby girl who happens to have Down syndrome.

Approximately 1 in 700 babies born in the world has Down syndrome. The majority of people with Down syndrome have trisomy 21, or three entire copies of chromosome 21, which occurs randomly. We each have 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell of our bodies, for a total of 46 chromosomes. A person with Down syndrome has 47 chromosomes. Whenever there is too much or too little genetic make up, growth and development are affected. Those who are born with Down syndrome typi cally have similar features which make that specific population the most misunderstood and most aborted people group on the planet. According to statistics, and thanks to the way a pre-natal diagnosis is typically delivered, up to 90 per cent of would-be parents opt to abort their pre-born babies with Down syndrome.

Thanks to advancement in science, medicine, government and family commitments, the myths and fallacies of Down syndrome from the past need to be deleted from our global thinking. Each human being has infinite potential if given opportunity. There is no valid reason for terminating a life just because someone fears the future.

Seeing Trig Palin on national television, with his chubby baby cheeks and epicanthal folds in his beautiful, inquisitive eyes, causes my heart to swell with renewed love for all babies. Every life is valuable, no matter how many chromosomes, no matter who the parents are, no matter what circumstances they might be born into. Whether the baby is birthed at forty-something or seventeen, as in the Palin women's cases, all moms should be heroes for choosing life. It's not alw ays the easiest choice but new life is always the right choice. Just ask my own two daughters.