{"id":261429,"date":"2022-01-27T08:44:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T14:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=261429"},"modified":"2022-01-24T22:22:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T04:22:55","slug":"trisomy-21-down-syndrome-label-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-21-down-syndrome-label-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Family has four children with Trisomy 21, but shuns ‘Down syndrome’ label"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Four of the eight children in the McGarrity family have Trisomy 21, yet parents Sonia and Jeff don’t say<\/a> that they have Down syndrome. Their avoidance of the term ‘Down syndrome’ is intentional.\u00a0The Colorado family found that this particular label often leads to certain automatic societal assumptions about the abilities of these individuals,\u00a0but limits are the last thing they want to place on their children \u2014 with or without a disability.<\/p>\n

“While the phrase ‘Trisomy 21’ describes the medical condition of a third copy of the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0chromosome, the ‘Down syndrome’ phrase describes certain physical characteristics, and has in large part come to convey assumptions about intellectual ability as well,” the McGarritys explained.<\/p>\n

The McGarrity family story began when Sonia and Jeff met in 2001. Following their marriage in early 2003,\u00a0Sonia and Jeff<\/a>\u00a0gratefully welcomed their sons Thomas and Sean in quick succession. After completely normal ultrasounds during Sonia’s pregnancy with their third son Jeffrey, the news of his presumed Trisomy 21 diagnosis just an hour after birth in 2006 took them completely by surprise.<\/p>\n