World Down Syndrome Day and the fight for love and life

March 21, 2012, was the first World Down Syndrome Day. This day reminds the world how precious and special are those with Down syndrome and how we must be their voice so that they can attain their full potential.

Every year’s WDSD celebration offers a different theme. This year, knowing that people with Down syndrome throughout the world are frequently denied quality education, healthcare, a chance to earn their own income, and the tools they need to thrive, advocates are calling “on all governments to improve [their] support systems.”

This is a monumental task but one whose outcomes have unlimited benefits. These support systems are often lacking because of fear, ignorance, and misinformation. That’s why it takes advocates all over the world to effect change.

Advocates understand that we need better education, better laws and policies, more help for families, and assistance for people with Down syndrome as they grow up and move toward greater independence. All of these things will go a long way to helping families and people with Down syndrome in ways big and small.

Team Iron Will

Cathy Daub, mother of eight—including a four-year-old with Down syndrome—has become a fiercely brave advocate for her son. When she first learned that Will had a 99% chance of having Down syndrome, she didn’t fear welcoming him into her family, loving him, and wondering how her other children would react. She feared how the world would treat him. So she began to research, which led her to the vast Down syndrome community filled with people who not only shared the immense joy their children bring to their lives but who offer help and advice through their families’ unique struggles.

As Will grew and encountered medical problems, that community stepped up to assist Cathy’s family, even providing them with much-needed therapy equipment that helped Will progress in strength and skill. She and her husband asked questions, sought advice, and educated themselves so they could be the best possible advocates for Will. Soon they began to advocate for Will in doctors’ offices and their community, as well as nationally through webinars, Instagram posts, and community events.

From this advocacy, Team Iron Will was born “to support, encourage, and advocate for individuals with Down syndrome as they discover their God-given potential.” And Team Iron Will is now giving back by helping families get the therapy equipment they need but cannot afford.

Cathy explained that in 2024 and thus far into 2025, Team Iron Will has reached over 1,000 families through online educational webinars and has helped 309 families with material resources and therapy scholarships. This is an amazing achievement.

Last year, Team Iron Will created a wonderful awareness video, so I asked Cathy how she and her family will be celebrating World Down Syndrome Day this year. She excitedly explained they will wear their mismatched socks, which are a staple of WDSD, and will shout the worth of their friends with DS in person and on social media.

She also explained that they are launching an updated Team Iron Will website and refocusing their efforts more toward advocacy that begins in utero.

Today’s eugenics

Cathy understands the tragic fact that, in the majority of cases in which babies are diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome, the parents choose to abort them.

In the US, estimates of abortion of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome range from 60% to 90%. But in other countries, it’s much higher. In Iceland, that number is nearly 100%, while in Denmark it’s 98%, and in Australia, it is about 90%.

The majority of women who choose to abort their babies likely do so out of fear: fear of the unknown, of what their child may face, or of being unable to handle the child’s special needs. Many women tell stories of how their doctors pressure them to abort, calling their children “burdens” or scaring them into thinking that their family will be unable to handle a child with Down syndrome or even that this new miracle will “ruin” their family.

It is indeed today’s genocide.

Team Iron Will wants to change this mindset and to help people understand that those with Down syndrome are gifts to cherish and protect.

As WDSD approaches, Cathy offers advice for new parents of children with Down syndrome. She encourages them to “just love their children” and says:

Medical professionals like to scare new parents by telling them all the things that can go wrong if you have DS, but the truth is that there’s so much more that can and will go right. Will opens our eyes more every day to a beauty that I never realized existed. He’s taught us to slow down and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. He’s taught us to rejoice in little and big accomplishments. He’s taught us to love with reckless unconditional love, to see the humanity in others even when we don’t agree, and to persevere through hard things with grace and hope.

We were told he’d take longer to learn everything, and by the world’s standards that’s probably true. But truthfully, he’s the teacher. We are the students, and we are the ones who took longer to learn what truly matters. I think people with Down syndrome hold the key to living a life of happiness. And we are thankful and humbled that God has allowed us the honor of raising Will and walking beside him through life.

This World Down Syndrome Day, let us see those with Down syndrome through the eyes of countless mothers and fathers who share Cathy’s love and wisdom. Let us see those with Down syndrome for the blessings and gifts they are. And let us lend our voices, both locally and on a global scale, to protect, support, and love those with Down syndrome.