{"id":220048,"date":"2020-03-18T08:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T13:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=220048"},"modified":"2020-03-18T13:03:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T18:03:28","slug":"incompatible-life-trisomy-18-proving-doctors-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/incompatible-life-trisomy-18-proving-doctors-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Incompatible with life’? People with Trisomy 18 are proving doctors wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, has been labeled as “incompatible with life” by some doctors. Those doctors will often advise expectant parents to terminate their pregnancies when babies are determined to have the condition. But, as difficult as it might be, there are people living their lives every single day with the condition, and proving that Trisomy 18 and life are not<\/em> incompatible when they are given a chance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Faith Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Trisomy

Faith. Photo courtesy of Smith family.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Faith Smith’s parents Brad and Jesi were told by doctors that there was no hope for her survival and that they should undergo amniocentesis to confirm the diagnosis so they could abort, they refused. Doctors said Faith<\/a> would destroy their finances and ruin their marriage, but the couple insisted that they would not end their daughter’s life.<\/p>\n

After Faith was born, she was officially diagnosed with Trisomy 18, and her parents did everything in their power to get her the care she needed. They often had to fight doctors — and even an ethics committee — to ensure Faith was cared for. It paid off. Faith is now 11 years old and just underwent spinal surgery for scoliosis and kyphoscoliosis in February.<\/p>\n

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