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October 17, 2016By Kevin Alviti, Special to Rhode Island Catholic
Part 2 of 2
With October marking both Respect Life and Down Syndrome Awareness months, Kevin Alviti, president of the Down Syndrome Society of Rhode Island and powerful keynote speaker during the recent diocesan Human Life Guild Day, offers in the second of a two-part Op-Ed a firsthand perspective on the pressures he and his wife faced to abort their baby when doctors determined the child would be born with Down Syndrome.
The greatest gift that my wife ever gave me wasn’t a flat screen television. It wasn’t that signed autograph picture of Rob Gronkowski that’s hanging in my living room. The greatest gift that my wife ever gave me was the ability to process the news, that our baby Natalia would be born with Down Syndrome, on my own at my own time. Not once did my wife ever say to me I am having this baby with or without you. Instead she would come to every single appointment with me, she would hold my hand and would let me ask the most ridiculous questions. I remember beating myself up that I allowed this doctor to get into my head, and she said, “You need to stop doing that. I always knew you were going to come around.” I said how did you know? She said “because every single night you would kiss my belly and tell Natalia that you loved her. I just knew your mind had to catch up to your heart.” More.
