After the bad taste in the mouth that has left us the news that Down syndrome is disappearing in Spain, the UK figures arouse some hope that things will also change in this country.
After births have declined significantly in recent years, from 717 in 1989 to 594 in 2000, more and more couples decide to continue with pregnancy when prenatal tests for Down syndrome are positive.
According to the Down Syndrome Association, statistics show a increased birth of British babies with that defect. In 2006, 749 children with Down syndrome were born in the United Kingdom, which although it seems low since the global incidence of the disease is 1 in 700 births, shows that due to various circumstances, fewer couples decide to abort their disabled babies.
Such circumstances are attributed to having met a person with Down syndrome (and seeing that they are as people as anyone and as disabled as anyone), that society is more open to the integration of these people (of which I am not quite safe) and the improvement in the quality of life of people with Down syndrome (in what I think everyone is responsible).
It is clear that choosing to bring a child with Down syndrome into the world is a very personal decision, but it is also a decision influenced by the environment. Thus, as soon as disabled people are better accepted by society, fewer children with Down syndrome will be aborted. It is a vicious circle that according to my point of view is not cut by eliminating children, but by accepting human beings.
