Even then, doctors only gave the baby girl, already named Delaney, just a five percent chance of survival.
Unable to deal with the bleak 12-week scan prognosis, Andrea’s friends told her to terminate the pregnancy immediately.
“We were devastated. Andrea was catatonic,” says wife Kelston.
“The doctors made it seem like Delaney was going to be blind [and] have autism. They said the fluid build-up on the back of her neck, it would either kill her or there would be a severe deformity that would look like another head.
“They successfully scared those two intended mums into wanting to terminate.”
But California-based Andrea, 34, and her wife Keston, had other ideas, despite being briefly threatened with legal action if they didn’t comply.
Keston and Andrea, who already had five children of her own, set about learning what it would be like to raise a child with Down syndrome, spending countless hours reading up on the condition.
“We saw kids that are actors, entrepreneurs, they get married,” says Keston.
“They do things that any kids can do.”
Delaney was born with Down syndrome in July 2013, but had none of the other medical issues doctors feared she might have.
Her third birthday is just a few months away.
“We just want to show parents out there, you don’t have to lose hope,” says Andrea, who also donated the eggs for the pregnancy, making her the biological mother of Delaney.
“You don’t have to terminate your child. Down syndrome is a label and that’s what society does.
“It determines what people can and can’t do based on that label.”
Despite their conflict, Andrea and Keston say they hold no ill-will toward the intended mothers.
“From their perspective, I have to be kind of sensitive to them,” Andrea says.
“When you’re trying to get pregnant for so long, it’s hard to be optimistic and see things with a fresh set of eyes.”
For a story on the first Down syndrome model to win a beauty campaign, click here.
