Since March is Trisomy Awareness Month, I asked my wonderful friend, Cassie, to write a guest post for the blog. She sweetly agreed, and so here it is!
Hi! My name is Cassie Kwant. This month is Trisomy Awareness Month and Christine asked me if I would share with you guys a little about what that is. I’m so excited to share with you all, so here we go.
A form of Trisomy happens when a baby is formed in its mommy’s tummy. This could be a little confusing, so I'll try and be simple. When a baby is formed it receives 23 chromosomes from it's mom and 23 from it's dad with makes 46.
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| Here's an example. |
Let's say a baby happens to have Trisomy 21. What that means is that on its 21st chromosome there’s 3 instead of the usual 2. Now the baby has 47 instead of 46.
The result of having this extra chromosome messes up the whole body, because every single cell in the body now has an extra chromosome. The result can vary, but tends to show in birth defects, which can be quite severe.
The most common forms of Trisomy are Trisomy 21 which is known as Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18 (Edward's Syndrome), and Trisomy 13 (Patau Syndrome). The doctors say that a baby with Down Syndrome will have severe mental disabilities. They say Trisomy 13 results in many physical as well as mental delays. They also say that a baby with T18 will not live past birth and if they do they will never live to see their first birthday. But that’s not always true; I have heard of plenty of kids with T18 that have lived way past a year. Like my friend's little sister Lilly, She lived to be 17 months old. You can read Lilly’s story here.
I guess I know the most about Trisomy 18, because my sister Hannah had Trisomy 18. (And that’s perfect because today is March 18, Trisomy 18 awareness day.) Just because she had T18 doesn’t mean she was not special nor does anyone who has an extra chromosome. I think their extra chromosome makes them extra special! They are perfect just the way God made them and are meant to be loved.
My sister Hannah lived to be 64 days, totally beating the odds of not living past birth. That was a huge accomplishment! The average baby with T18 lives to be only 6 days old (or so they say.)
I learned so much from having such an amazing, awesome sister. I’m so glad God blessed me and my family with our precious Hannah even if it was only for 64 days. And even though she was only here for a short while, she left behind a lifetime of memories. We love you, Hannah Grace. We will always love you!
Love,
**note by Christine**
For Trisomy Awareness Month on one of my favorite blogs, Teens Interceding for Orphans, we are praying and advocating for sweet Roberto with Down Syndrome to find his forever family. View the post about him here. Please consider signing up to pray for him with us!