Unfortunately, as everyone is aware at this point, the phrase “I’m sorry” is often followed by unfavorable information. Since there’s a good possibility the next statement could alter your life forever, “I’m sorry” can sometimes serve as a buzzword in critical situations.
As a result, Jodi and her boyfriend Matt’s hearts sprang into their mouths when they overheard those words in a hospital. Since this would be their second pregnancy, they were both anxious and excited to have a kid. They were going to welcome two more angels into the family—twins—in addition to their already healthy son. However, as soon as the deliveries occurred, their joy rapidly gave way to worry.
Two words spoken by a doctor in a modest waiting room turned the couple’s lives completely upside down. Saying “I’m sorry.” When the doctor revealed that Abigail and Isobel, their prematurely born twin daughters, had been diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, their parents Matt and Jodie were in disbelief. Although the couple already had a son called Finlay, they had been trying to conceive for a while.
Mother Jodi thought she was ready for anything since she experienced a miscarriage not long after Finlay was born. But the doctor’s remarks left her speechless. Probably not the words themselves, but more so the way they were spoken. The diagnosis sounded, in Jodi’s words, like a “lifetime punishment” from the doctor.
Due to their early birth, the twin girls spent four weeks in a neonatal critical care facility. Things seemed hopeless. “I didn’t feel like a mother that day. Simply put, I was perplexed and lost. I had depressing ideas about the future. I figured we’d be caregivers ’til we passed away,” Jodie said. Abigail and Isobel are statistically quite uncommon children, according to the Mirror.
One is a million chance of having twins who are both affected by Down syndrome. However, the little girls had a lot of health problems from birth. Isobel was born with a hole in her heart, while Abigail is deaf in one ear. No one wants to hear any of that from their doctor, of course. Matt and Jodi eventually had to confront the harsh truth. Sadly, the parents received little assistance or knowledge concerning Down’s syndrome.
They received no explanation why their family of five could live happy, typical lives alongside everyone else. Because of this, Matt and Jodi were both terrified. They had no idea if their daughters would be able to attend a school like other kids. Even whether they would be able to speak was unknown to them. The majority of it had to be done by the family on their own; they had to research it. There were others who felt sorry for the kids and sympathized with them, but Abigail and Isobel were able to survive because of the abundant affection of their relatives.
“The doctor apologized for Abigail and Isobel having Down syndrome when he pulled us to one side to discuss the findings. I’ll never know what he was sorry for, Abigail remarked, to this day. I would want to show him Abigail and Isobel and ask him, “Why did you say sorry? We wouldn’t change Abigail and Isobel for the world now,” if I ever had the chance to see him again. The girls have shown the perils of prejudice fostered by ignorance years after their birth.