{"id":245271,"date":"2021-05-17T11:32:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T16:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=245271"},"modified":"2021-05-20T18:50:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T23:50:32","slug":"son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/","title":{"rendered":"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

For the McGarritys, adopting children with Down syndrome has felt like a calling, and a profound joy \u2014 so much so that they are parents of eight, including four children with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

Jeff and Sonia McGarrity met in Washington, D.C., in 2001. After the birth of their first two sons, Thomas and Sean, the couple had no indication during pregnancy that their third son would be any different. But after the midwife delivered their third child, Jeffrey, they learned that he had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

Many parents react to such news with shock, fear, or trepidation, but the couple took the news in stride. \u201cFor some people, this is devastating news, but it really wasn\u2019t for us,\u201d Jeff said, according to Colorado Parent<\/a>. After Jeffrey was born, the couple moved to Centennial, Colorado, and had their fourth child, Brendan.<\/p>\n

READ: Tear-jerker: Animated music video shows man with Down syndrome\u2019s \u2018life well lived\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The couple wanted to keep having children, but Sonia experienced two miscarriages. After this experience, they began to contemplate adopting a child, and it was having Jeffrey that made them consider embracing another child with special needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that struck our hearts was to learn about Down syndrome,\u201d Sonia said about their adoption options, according to The Catholic Telegraph<\/a>. \u201cI contacted the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network to ask if it was crazy to be a parent of a child with Down syndrome who also wants to adopt a child with Down syndrome,\u201d Sonia said, according to The Catholic Telegraph. \u201cThe woman on the other end of the line said, \u2018I have four children with Down syndrome,\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Ok, I guess I\u2019m not crazy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2010, Jeff and Sonia adopted Cecilia, a beautiful baby girl with Down syndrome. Then just a few months later, the couple got pregnant with their sixth child, Augustine, who was born in 2011. But Jeff and Sonia were not finished adding to their family, and they adopted RoseMarie in 2015 and Charlotte in 2018 \u2014 both of whom have the condition.<\/p>\n

The proud parents of four children with Down syndrome \u2014 their \u201clittle love machines\u201d \u2014 are active in outreach to other parents whose preborn babies have received a diagnosis of Down syndrome. In addition to inviting parents into their home, Sonia is active on social media and elsewhere to give other parents information about her experience with Down syndrome. The couple also offers to adopt babies from women who feel overwhelmed with the diagnosis and are considering abortion.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal has always been to say, \u2018If you are a birth parent and you have a prenatal diagnosis, come and meet our family. Come and see what life is like,\u2019\u201d Sonia said, according to the Catholic Telegraph. \u201cBecause there is this sort of unknown with a stigma attached, and what doctors are telling you, that makes it difficult to decide whether to parent or write an adoption plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the McGarritys, adopting children with Down syndrome has felt like a calling, and a profound joy \u2014 so much so that they are parents of eight, including four children with Down syndrome. Jeff and Sonia McGarrity met in Washington, D.C., in 2001. After the birth of their first two sons, Thomas and Sean, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":606,"featured_media":245324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSon with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Down syndrome is a blessing for the McGarrity family -- so much so, that after having a son with it, they adopted three more children with the condition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Down syndrome is a blessing for the McGarrity family -- so much so, that after having a son with it, they adopted three more children with the condition.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-17T16:32:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-20T23:50:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-17.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Nicole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/LauraNicoleLAN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Nicole\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Nicole\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/559f5a34d7a649412e9356345992a870\"},\"headline\":\"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-17T16:32:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-20T23:50:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\"},\"wordCount\":509,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\",\"name\":\"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-17T16:32:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-20T23:50:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"Down syndrome is a blessing for the McGarrity family -- so much so, that after having a son with it, they adopted three more children with the condition.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/559f5a34d7a649412e9356345992a870\",\"name\":\"Laura Nicole\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3016975d28209f6ac973c084b9345a77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3016975d28209f6ac973c084b9345a77?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura Nicole\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/LauraNicoleLAN\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/laura-nicole\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition","description":"Down syndrome is a blessing for the McGarrity family -- so much so, that after having a son with it, they adopted three more children with the condition.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition","og_description":"Down syndrome is a blessing for the McGarrity family -- so much so, that after having a son with it, they adopted three more children with the condition.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2021-05-17T16:32:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-20T23:50:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Photo-shared-on-Facebook-17.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Laura Nicole","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/LauraNicoleLAN","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Nicole","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/"},"author":{"name":"Laura Nicole","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/559f5a34d7a649412e9356345992a870"},"headline":"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition","datePublished":"2021-05-17T16:32:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-20T23:50:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/"},"wordCount":509,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Human Interest","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/","name":"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-05-17T16:32:12+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-20T23:50:32+00:00","description":"Down syndrome is a blessing for the McGarrity family -- so much so, that after having a son with it, they adopted three more children with the condition.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/son-down-syndrome-inspires-adopt-daughters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Son with Down syndrome inspires parents to adopt three daughters with the condition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/559f5a34d7a649412e9356345992a870","name":"Laura Nicole","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3016975d28209f6ac973c084b9345a77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3016975d28209f6ac973c084b9345a77?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laura Nicole"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/LauraNicoleLAN"],"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/laura-nicole\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/606"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245271"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245345,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245271\/revisions\/245345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}