| Yvonne Pierre is an inspiration. She is a | | | | would not do with his life. |
| very strong, black single mother of two | | | | |
| children - one of whom has Down Syndrome. She | | | | I resolved never to put limitations on either |
| lives locally in the Atlanta area. This is | | | | one of my children, and Zyon would be no |
| her story. | | | | different. I have faith in the Creator and I |
| | | | believe that He makes no mistakes. So why |
| A mother's intuition is always right. | | | | would I dare believe that He had made one |
| | | | with my son? No matter what the ability or |
| Throughout my pregnancy, I felt that there | | | | disability, we all serve a divine purpose. |
| was something special about my baby, but I | | | | |
| could not put my finger on it. Shortly after | | | | Now, two years on, Zyon is walking, |
| giving birth to Zyon, looking at him for the | | | | communicating, and he loves to dance and |
| first time, I thought I noticed something | | | | sing. He is very observant and picks up on |
| unusual in his appearance, but as the Medical | | | | things quickly, and he is such a loving, |
| staff said nothing, I assumed it was my | | | | happy child. |
| imagination. Even when he started to have | | | | |
| "digestive problems" and was rushed to the | | | | My experience taught me something very |
| Intensive Care Unit, I suppressed my fears | | | | important. There is not enough positive |
| and put my trust in the doctors. | | | | awareness of the children and adults with |
| | | | Down syndrome. Parents are often worried and |
| When the doctors told me that my son had a | | | | depressed because they believe what the |
| heart condition, and that they believed this | | | | doctors say about their children - some of |
| could be because he had Downs Syndrome, I | | | | them even abort their babies because of this |
| could not hold back the tears. | | | | misconception. |
| | | | |
| However, almost as soon as I gave in to the | | | | From my anger at this misconception, there |
| tears, I felt angry with myself, and said | | | | came the birth of "Have Ya Heard? The Ability |
| "What am I crying for? He is here!" - and I | | | | of Downs".. The site (HYH Online) was |
| haven't cried since. | | | | designed to promote positive awareness, |
| | | | provide information on Down syndrome, |
| The next time I felt angry was when the | | | | resources, reviews and many more things to |
| doctors told me "Don't get your hopes up.. he | | | | come. |
| probably will not result to anything" and "If | | | | |
| you get pregnant again, we can test you in | | | | HYH Online will give hope to new and existing |
| enough time to abort it, if it has Downs". | | | | parents that feel as though there is no hope. |
| | | | What a parent believes will have a huge |
| Almost immediately, my anger turned to pity | | | | impact on their child's outcome, as it does |
| for these poor doctors, who had such limiting | | | | with any child. My goal is to help others to |
| beliefs about my son's future, these doctors | | | | find that hope and to let them know that |
| who had never met my son before, and could | | | | blessings always come in disguise. |
| not possibly predict what he would do or | | | | |