Down Syndrome Journey of Sanna Christine Finstad, Norway

Hanne gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in 2019. And soon learned that her daughter Sanna has Down Syndrome. Thus, the journey of awareness for Lovise and  Finstad family begins.

Hanne discusses Sanna’s  Down Syndrome Journey With MOMSHUBBUB

Statements that many people think mean something to us, but that we actually couldn’t care less about;

“You can’t see that she has it”
“She doesn’t have the typical features”
“I would never guess she has down syndrome”

Because yes, the features are there, they are visible, people come to us to talk to us because they see she has down syndrome. And you know what? We don’t care if it’s visible. Or, rather visible than not, I would say. Many people think that pointing out that Sanna’s typical down syndrome features are less visible is a compliment. But it’s not. We think Sanna is the most beautiful girl in the world – regardless if the features are there or not.

This was something we heard from most people, especially in her first year of life. We may even have said it ourselves for the first few months. At the very beginning we couldn’t see the features ourselves because we knew her so well. But we see it very clearly now that she has features and that she had it as a baby too. We ‘re not sad about it, we’re not ashamed about it, we aren’t hiding her – we’re happy, she’s happy, she’s beautiful and we love showing her off!

Thank you for sharing your story with MOMSHUBBUB

Today is World Down Syndrome Day, and we thank Hanne and Incredibly brave Lovise and  Finstad family for sharing Sanna’s Journey, and bringing Down Syndrome the awareness it deserves. 

A new baby in the family is a joyous occasion.

Always remember that parents of a baby with Down syndrome are no different than any other. Pity is not what new parents want or need. What they need is love for their new baby.

Let’s change the stigma and the way that the world views Down Syndrome.