Moms of Down Syndrome Babies: Be Not Afraid

Imagine you’re expecting a baby, and you’ve just learned that your child will have Down syndrome.  Would you be afraid?

This video is making the rounds on the Internet this week, in anticipation of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21.  The ad was developed in response to a letter sent to CoorDown, Italy’s national organization for people with Down syndrome, from a young mother who had just learned of a fetal abnormality, and who worries what life will be like for her child.

The theme for this year’s World Down Syndrome Day is the right to happiness and well-being for people with Down Syndrome.  Award-winning Italian advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi Italy took the concerned mother’s letter and developed a campaign “Everyone has the right to be happy.”

The hope is that the worried mom who wrote that letter–and all mothers of special-needs children–will better understand the joys and the challenges ahead, living with and loving a Down Syndrome child.