“I’M sorry to say that your child has a condition. If you choose to go ahead with the pregnancy, she will have a 42 per cent chance of developing cancer in her lifetime, a 17 per cent chance of a stroke. Here is a leaflet detailing many of the other risk factors. We have a Read more about Educating Rosie – March 2017[…]

THIS year may go down as the pivotal moment in history that led to people like our daughter Rosie becoming extinct. Mankind may reflect for centuries to come about a particular species of human being, with a subtly different genetic profile, high in emotional intelligence, with a lower than average IQ, that was systematically eradicated Read more about Who Wants to Live in a World Without Rosies? – March 2016[…]

YOU will be your child’s greatest handicap.” Those words were spoken to me by Pandora Summerfield 12 months ago, after I’d written an essay about the shock journey my wife and I took following the birth of our daughter Rosie, who has Down’s Syndrome. Summerfield is chief executive of Down’s Syndrome Scotland, and her prophecy Read more about What Not to Say About Rosie – March 2015[…]

MY wife noticed first. Barely half an hour had passed since the birth of our second daughter, Rosie, when Victoria remarked that she couldn’t tell who the baby looked like. She then asked if I thought she had Down’s Syndrome. I laughed at first, thinking that the drugs from the caesarean section were still affecting Read more about Getting to Know Rosie – March 2014[…]