ginkgotree's review
This was an extremely interesting book. I started out sympathetic to Kaposy's conclusion that more people should continue pregnancies after a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis than currently do so. And having finished the book, I am still inclined to think that this is correct. But there were several places where Kaposy's arguments failed to convince me. In part, this is due to what I see as an oversimplification on his part of what Down syndrome entails. He discusses it almost entirely in terms of cognitive disability, but that isn't the whole story. And when he says that "many" people with Down syndrome are able to live independently, or experience good health, or whatever else, it raises the question: *how* many? Given a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, I would think a prospective parent would need much more information to make a truly informed choice about whether to continue the pregnancy. And to my knowledge, that additional information is not (yet) available.
Kaposy argues that vulnerability and dependence are essential aspects of the human condition, which is true, and his points in this regard are well taken. But he also argues that "for all intents and purposes, in the first few years of life, nondisabled children are as totally dependent on their parents or caregivers as children with Down syndrome" (p. 139) Whether or not this is accurate - and I'm skeptical, based on families I've known who have a child with Down syndrome - it doesn't address the fact that, over the course of their lifetime, a person with Down syndrome will be more dependent than a non-disabled person. When discussing his son, who needed open-heart surgery as a toddler, Kaposy writes "we do not attribute Aaron's need for surgery to the fact that he has Down syndrome." But there is still an association between Down syndrome and other health problems, and Kaposy does not address whether those other problems, aside from cognitive disability, might be legitimate reasons to terminate a pregnancy.
Ultimately, the argument here is that if we value unconditional love, acceptance of diversity, and appreciation of the value of every human being, we should live those values by accepting children with Down syndrome into our families. He makes a compelling case. But it would be a stronger argument if he hadn't seemed to ignore many aspects of both Down syndrome and the world we live in.
Kaposy argues that vulnerability and dependence are essential aspects of the human condition, which is true, and his points in this regard are well taken. But he also argues that "for all intents and purposes, in the first few years of life, nondisabled children are as totally dependent on their parents or caregivers as children with Down syndrome" (p. 139) Whether or not this is accurate - and I'm skeptical, based on families I've known who have a child with Down syndrome - it doesn't address the fact that, over the course of their lifetime, a person with Down syndrome will be more dependent than a non-disabled person. When discussing his son, who needed open-heart surgery as a toddler, Kaposy writes "we do not attribute Aaron's need for surgery to the fact that he has Down syndrome." But there is still an association between Down syndrome and other health problems, and Kaposy does not address whether those other problems, aside from cognitive disability, might be legitimate reasons to terminate a pregnancy.
Ultimately, the argument here is that if we value unconditional love, acceptance of diversity, and appreciation of the value of every human being, we should live those values by accepting children with Down syndrome into our families. He makes a compelling case. But it would be a stronger argument if he hadn't seemed to ignore many aspects of both Down syndrome and the world we live in.
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