Wednesday 6 August 2014

How I feel about Gammy...

So this week, all around the world, the news of baby Gammy has been spreading.

The news was all over my facebook newsfeed a week or so ago, spread by other mothers of children with Down syndrome. Then the mainstream media found people were interested and started flogging this story to death.

In the beginning this was a heartbreaking story of twins separated, a sick baby needing a heart operation which his mother couldn't afford. A baby abandoned by his biological parents and a surrogate swindled out of money she was entitled to and lumbered with a baby who, thankfully, she loved and wanted to care for.

The outrage at the one twin being taken and the other being left was loud and vocal. Common, everyday people shouted, "that's not right!".  I had to wonder at this and whether any of these had ever had genetic testing to see if their baby had Trisomy 21 and would have considered aborting it. I wondered if it even registered that there was a similarity between the two scenarios.

Some parents were surprised at how the terminology in the media was quite out of date in terms of people-first language. They cheered online when they saw it being fixed up. There were also reports of Gammy being said to "suffer" from Down syndrome. This is another thing you just don't want to say. Parents got all vocal about stopping such practices. I think people's actions are more important than their words in these cases.

Then we found out things about the still anonymous biological parents. Then we found out who they were and they started saying nasty things about the surrogate and claiming they did the right thing and wanted to take Gammy home but that the surrogate had parental rights.

So now it's all a big gossip about who's telling the truth and where the babies are going to end up.
I think we've lost sight of the story. I think we've lost the reason for being interested in the first place.
Gammy needs a heart operation. His mother has raised the money. Hopefully he fights the infection he now has and can get the surgery, going on to live a long and happy life.

The rest is none of our business.