YouTuber Jesse Ridgeway is addressing online hate after he revealed he and his wife, Ashley, decided to terminate their pregnancy. They learned the baby had a significant chance of being born with Down syndrome.
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"This week, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy due to Trisomy 21," the YouTuber wrote on Instagram stories. "The choice was not made lightly. We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley."
The YouTuber says that they terminated the pregnancy earlier this week and that Ashley is doing alright.
"When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they're a little slow intellectually, then we'll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may," he wrote. "But I just didn't fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed."
YouTuber Speaks Out
"Down Syndrome isn't a 'blessing,' it is objectively s-tty from a health perspective," he also added. "I didn't realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family ... more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life."'
The announcement drew backlash from commenters online with several commenting on unrelated posts, demonizing the YouTuber. One person wrote, "Down Syndrome is not a death sentence. You made it one." Another wrote, "I dare you to spend five minutes with a person with Down Syndrome. You might just discover you deprived yourselves of the greatest opportunity of your lives."
Things have gotten so bad that the YouTuber had to address the online hate in a series of Instagram Stories. He said he's disappointed in the behavior.
He wrote, "I've never seen such hate and vitriol for two people grieving the loss of their unborn child and making an impossible decision. The last 24 hours has exposed a side of humanity that is deeply disturbing."
The YouTuber says that the couple has received death threats after the announcement. He is asking for the internet to leave him and his wife alone and to have a little bit of compassion and understanding.
