Ok, there is much to wrap my thoughts around regarding Sarah Palin and the unfortunate politicization of having a baby with Down syndrome. I read articles and message boards and my blood starts to froth and my hackles rise. So I am going to start with this, simply.

Is Trig at the Heart of Media’s Reaction to Palin?

I am pro-choice. Dex and I refused prenatal testing (beyond ultrasounds) for all of my pregnancies. And, surprise! I gave birth to a baby boy with Down syndrome.

The million dollar question: If we had known in advance that Davey would have Down syndrome, what we would have done?

The answer: Cried, read, cried, tossed and turned, read more, talked to people, worried, cried, picked out a name, set up a crib, cried and worried and read some more… and absolutly continued the pregnancy. I am not saying this through the rose-tinted glasses of knowing my sweet son and the wonderful person he is. I am saying this because I am 100% certain that we would have chosen life, HIS LIFE.

Did I mention that I’m pro-choice?

I am very glad that Sarah and Todd Palin chose not to terminate their baby upon receiving the prenatal diagnosis. BUT, I don’t think it was actually a choice for them. And while I wish, desperately, that vastly fewer parents who receive the diagnosis chose to terminate, I strongly disagree with the implication that being pro-choice makes it an automatic or less than heartwrenching decision.  As always, life is much more complicated than that.

And dammit, no one political party, no one side of any debate has the right to claim my son’s existence under its political banner.

He’s mine. You can’t have him.

* It’s important to note that while the Palins, based on their convictions, did not face the same terminate-or-keep decision that many parents do, I do not believe it was easy for them to receive the news of their son’s diagnosis. I do not want to minimize the shock and grief, the emotionally rocky road they surely traveled as they absorbed and came to terms with having a baby with Down syndrome. In this and in our subsequent joy and overwhelming love for our sons, Sarah Palin and I can find common ground.