special

If, like me, you have recently downgraded Jimmy Carr (along with Messrs Boyle and Gervais) from "Tolerably Amusing Comedian" to "Unkind Person who makes Unfunny and Offensive Jokes", I want to share a couple of lovely stories with you. The first one is called "The Smile That Melts Misconceptions" and features Taya, a little girl who has an extra chromosome and a modelling contract. After that, I can guarantee an honest, touching and articulate read on Alice's blog, Play on the Word. Alice and her husband Dave have three children, one of whom joined their family when he was nine months old. Mikey has Downs Syndrome, and Alice and Dave chose, specifically, to adopt him. This post, written in honour of World Downs Syndrome Day on 21st March, is beautiful. I don't need to add anything to it because it speaks for itself, but I have to say that in an age when so much is written and said about rights and choice and viability, it is truly a privilege to read something based so much on love and joy and the notion of blessings rather than burdens.

About 95% of children diagnosed prenatally with Downs Syndrome are never born. Alice, who is mother to a child who has Downs and so knows what she's talking about, says that "every fight, every nappy, every tantrum, every stare, every disastrous outing, every invite turned down is outweighed a thousandfold by the complete and utter joy and wonder of having Mikey." And the more I think about what it means to be pro-life, the more I believe that it needn't - and indeed probably shouldn't - involve arguments and placards and statistics, but instead an emphasis on joy and wonder and love. Mikey, Taya, the Prime Minister's late son Ivan and thousands of other children who have extra needs are precious and special and inspirational to those around them. They deserve to be born, they deserve to live and they deserve the opportunity to give and receive love. None of us are without needs and challenges, but we all have the chance to experience and share with others the richness of life, if only it is given to us in the first place. As Mikey's mother says, "We are poorer when we refuse to allow people with Downs Syndrome the chance at life". Who'd want to be poorer? Choose riches. Choose joy.