Comments on: Alexis Stewart Talks About Fertility Challenges

By: BelleSomnium

BelleSomnium — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:55:35 +0000

JuliannaKnox, I totally agree with you. Why would a person who is paying $28,000 a month on fertility treatment want to transfer an embroyo with Down Syndrome? I think that children with Down Syndrome are wonderful children, but it’s a lot of work, and I don’t think anyone who gets pregnant is keeping their fingers crossed that their child will be born with Down Syndrome or any type of genetic disorder.

By: JuliannaKnox

JuliannaKnox — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:58:16 +0000

Dear Jesspiz, People love to hate the infertile, it seems. Your perspective is curious, as by no theology that I know of, does G*d “give” people a child with a chromosomal issue, any more than G*d gives a child any other birth disorder.

As for adoption, I admire your advocacy. How many children have you adopted yourself? If you haven’t yet, by all means, when you start the paperwork, and the travel, and the humiliating charades in the orphanages, and when you bring your adopted child home, you can be happy about the new path your life has taken. (Now, I know I sound ridiculous, but I am not straying too far from what you yourself have said someone else “should do.”)

By: another me

another me — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:21:48 +0000

I admire Alexis Stewart for being so open about a very private challenge in her life, and for subjecting herself to people’s criticisms. Perhaps she can use this struggle to encourage other women not to wait as long if they want to have their own biological baby. There are certainly different ways to become a mother, and if she wants to experience pregnancy for herself and to have her own biological baby and has the means to try, then more power to her.

By: me

me — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:07:46 +0000

Trisomy 21 pregnancies do often carry to term, but the genetic disorder does also carry an increased risk of miscarriage.

The reduced viability of the embryos makes them poor choices for transfer, regardless of how the prospective parents feel about raising a child with Down syndrome.

By: Jessspiz

Jessspiz — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:25:00 +0000

As a 35 year-old mother of 2 HEALTHY daughters, one who happens to have Down syndrome, I read with mild interest your article on Alexis Stewart’s “struggle” to have a baby. When I got to the second to last paragraph, I literally bolted straight up from my lounging position. If Miss Stewart continues to pick and choose which embryos she and her doctors see fit to implant after they “conduct an embryo biopsy for Down syndrome and the myriad other things you might find”, I imagine she’ll continue to struggle. I can’t say I’ll have much sympathy for her. I am certain that she is unaware how insulting and hurtful her comments are to those of us whose lives have been blessed and enriched by a child with Down syndrome or any other special need. Our children are not castaways. I would encourage Miss Stewart to implant all of the viable embryos and take what God gives her. Or, if she turns to adoption, why not use her tremendous means to welcome a special needs child into her family. I am sure Grandma Martha would be a great advocate for any grandchild and I think both she and her daughter would be greatly surprised at the path their life would take.