Julie McConnel already had three kids from her previous marriage and one son from her new husband Dan. They decided they wanted to try and have a girl this time but it seems like life is testing them after finding out she was indeed pregnant – with twin boys.
The chances of a woman having a child with Down syndrome at the age of 40 increases from 1 to 100, so the couples knew they needed to undergo all necessary tests to check their babies. Turned out, their twins would indeed be born with the said condition.
Julie is already 45-years-old and felt like she couldn’t handle raising two children with special needs so she and her Dan decided to put their twin boys up for adoption. Through the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network, they found the family willing to adopt the boys.
Julie and Dan wanted to make sure that their sons will go to a loving family before signing up any paperwork so they did a due diligence.
“They were hosting a picnic, so we went and met with some wonderful families who shared their experiences with us.”
That is when they realized that the only thing that is keeping them from adding their twins into their family is fear, “You love your kids no matter what. When we finally decided that we weren’t going to let our fear stand in our way, it was easy to make our decision.”
When Julie came to her third trimester, she and her husband made a decision to keep their sons.
Milo and Charlie were born. When Julie saw her boys’ faces she knew she will miss them everyday if they decided not to keep them. The couples were happy they made the right decision.
Now Julie says having a child with special needs isn’t as scary as it seems, she can’t imagine what their lives will be without them.
Julie admits she worries how people will treat them as they get older. She said: “My biggest fear is that they may be mistreated, ridiculed, or rejected.”
“People can be mean out of ignorance, but if you slow down and put away the image in your mind of what normal or perfect is, you can experience so much more.”
Julie and Dan plan to send the twins to a typical school when they get older, so they can make friends, be a part of the mainstream community, and be included in every way possible.