Down Syndrome Surgeries

            Okay, okay so I was watching the Discovery Channel the other night -- it was a report on all the new and incredible surgical procedures which are now available.  Stuff like that interests me, a person with a disability.  But there was one surgery that had to do with Down Syndrome that really struck -- no, it repulsed me. 

            In England, parents of a five-year-old girl with Down Syndrome put their daughter through a series of cosmetic surgeries to 'improve' her appearance -- things like removing the folds of skin from the corners of her eyes and operating on her ears and fixing her flattened nose.  All so that this child with Down Syndrome would 'fit in'.  Other surgeries on Down Syndrome kids have been performed -- some to change the thin lips and thick neck and the large tongue.

            These parents say they just want their children to be happy.  One of the mothers was quite insistent, saying that it's all a matter of self-esteem -- if you're not happy with yourself, then why shouldn't you fix your appearance?

            Well, putting braces on your teeth is one thing... but radical, invasive surgeries that completely restructure the face of a child?  Isn't it only reinforcing the idea that disabled children are the ones who must change in order to be accepted by society?  Isn't it better, isn't it more important, more ethical for society to learn to accept people who are different? Like a child with Down Syndrome?

             You know, as I watched that, I kept thinking of Psalm 139 where it says that God knit us in our mother's womb, meshing our chromosomes together exactly in the way He wants.  And even if there's a chromosome missing* -- such as in the case of Down Syndrome -- even then, He's in control.  A child with Down Syndrome fits into His plan.  And that plan may include changing the people around that child - changing the parents perspectives and even changing the attitudes and values of our society.

            Not every parent of a Down Syndrome child wants to change the appearance of their little one.  Rosa Monckton is the mother of 12-year-old Domenica, who has Down Syndrome.  And Rosa says it's "a sad indictment of what our 'must-have' society has become -- the expectation is for something perfect. Anything which isn't aesthetically perfect -- be it breasts, bodies or the faces of children just out of babyhood -- must be fixed until it is. And that shows a grotesquely skewed sense of values."

            Well, we have two Family Retreats beginning this week in July. And at each of these retreats we will be welcoming children like Domenica.  And at each retreat, we'll be encouraging parents to hold fast to biblical values as they look into the faces of their children, accepting them as they are and not wondering what they can change to make that little boy or girl with Down Syndrome fit.  Because you know what? They are going to fit just fine!

* Please note that while the text and audio of this program state that in Down Syndrome there is a missing chromosome, according to the National Down Syndrome Society, "Down syndrome occurs when some or all of a person’s cells have an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21" (www.ndss.org). 

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