Lizeth Breaux, a 37-year-old from California, is the mother of five children who refused to ᴀʙᴀɴᴅᴏɴ her baby boy when it was revealed he would be born with Dᴏᴡɴ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ.
“It was really surreal when we got the news that one of our babies had Dᴏᴡɴ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ. I completely lost my head. I was very scared,” Lizeth recalled. She said feelings and thoughts swirled throughout her pregnancy, where she dreaded what the future held and where she accepted the facts.
The doctors put an incredible amount of pressure on her, repeating every time how hard it would be for the child and the whole family, and trying to convince her to ᴀʙᴀɴᴅᴏɴ the baby. Although Lizeth was sure she did not want to ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛᴇ the pregnancy, she repeatedly questioned her decision under the influence of doctors.
“They made me believe that when they were born, they would not be intact. They kept telling me about the circumstances and his condition and trying to scare me. I always knew I wasn’t going to ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛᴇ my pregnancy, but I was made to think about whether I had made the right decision and if I would be able to cope with it,” the mother said.
Later in her pregnancy, when the baby with Dᴏᴡɴ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ stopped growing, doctors stated even more emphatically that she would not survive. However, Lizeth did not lose her faith and continued to persevere.
“The doctors folded every time he didn’t stay alive, and every time we went back to another appointment, he was still alive. It was as if they wanted to give another reason to ᴛᴇʀᴍɪɴᴀᴛᴇ the pregnancy.”
Lizeth finally stated that as long as she could hear her baby’s heartbeat, she no longer wanted to hear about the possibility of ᴀʙᴏʀᴛɪᴏɴ, and was later unspeakably grateful for not giving in to the pressure. Finally, on January 15, 2020, she gave birth to the twins, who were named Andre and August, respectively.
The little boy with Dᴏᴡɴ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ is doing great now. He doesn’t have any ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ, but initially he had difficulty breathing and had to have his ᴛᴏɴsɪʟs removed.
“I know our journey is not over yet, we have a long, difficult journey ahead of us, with a lot of struggles, but I didn’t regret anything. I love both of them,” said Lizeth, who hopes sharing the story can help other parents who find themselves in a similar situation.
“It’s perfectly okay if you’re scared and if you feel like it won’t go away. We are prepared for any child who is given to us, and we are strong enough for anything. They can’t force it on anything,” she said, advising other parents.
“I pray for August to show the beauty behind the label,” she wrote on her Instagram, where she often shares details about his family’s life and tries to draw attention to Dᴏᴡɴ sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ.
