A WORLD WITHOUT DOWN SYNDROME

It is a documentary presented by sally Phillips who is a an actor, writer and also a mother of
a child who has down syndrome. His son’s name is Olly who was diagnosed with down
syndrome when he was 10 days old. The documentary starts with a footage of the family
having fun with paints and small clips of Olly. Sally then moves forward with the topic for
the documentary, which is NHS offering a test that will give the pregnant women’s a 99%
indication of the Down’s status of an unborn baby without the use of any instrument. The
statistics show that other countries using these tests had a rapid growth in the termination
of the fetus if their baby is diagnosed with down syndrome.

She meets a lot of people ranging from teachers, nurses, scientists, parents in order to
understand different takes on people with down syndrome and in general things related to
it. She is however, she is both the ideal person to give an account of Down's syndrome and
the worst person to present this documentary about the benefits and drawbacks of
screening.

She first visits NHS where mothers are tested on the 12th week to see the probability of their
child being diagnosed with down syndrome. She have a sensible conversation with a
professor of trying to understand the reason for mother’s deciding to terminate their baby
and the effects of screening can have on people’s decisions. She is then seen with a leaflets
NHS provide to expectants with a down syndrome fetus mentioning all the possible heal
disabilities the baby can have. She questions why is not the bright side of it is been spread
and only it is the scary parts mentioned. A really emotional question she asks the viewers
“how could anyone look at Olly and say they don’t want a child like mine”. This is the entire
basis of the programme, the undeniable foundation upon which her argument rests. She
then decides to go out to the world to have a sensible conversation about the pros and cons
of the screening. Instead of an even-handed talks, I get a focus of attention lightened on
something that has only ever been in my eyesight. I think Phillips is headed in the right
direction because this topic needs to be brought into the spotlight and people should be
educated about it in a right manner and then given the choice to decide. It is almost more
people talking about the negatives which undeniably results in termination, the thinking of
the society and the ways the topic of down syndrome is presented needs to be changed.

A devasting segment is from Iceland where 100% of the people are deciding to terminate
the baby. To spread the word that even the people who has down syndrome matter a 32
yearold woman wrote an article about it and explained how their worth is no less than
people who live around the world.

Phillips has a lot of insight and intelligence to contribute to this, but her interactions with
experts and parents on the other side of the debate frequently leave her teary and
frustrated. You can see why she was hesitant as she travelled into increasingly troublesome
area. Her interview with Kate, an expectant mother who terminated a pregnancy after a
positive Down's syndrome diagnosis, is the most difficult scene, according to me. As she
goes on with the description of aborting her 25year old foetus, Phillips starts sobbing and is
unable to speak. She then acknowledges kat’s bravery in talking about such a hard choice,
but then she takes out an iPad and shows Kate a video clip of a young American gymnast
called Chelsea, who also has the condition. Phillips’s smile seems to be urging Kate to see
what she can plainly see: that their lives are no less valid. That people with Down’s can go
on to great things. But still Kate’s remain firms with her choice saying that she didn’t wanted
that for her child. Phillips goes on with a difficult question that says that Chelsea life would
have been better if not happening, after quiet a pause Kate answers that it should be up to
the mother to decide.

A disability dosen’t defines who you are as a person is what I feel , of course it has it’s
backdrops but that dosen’t mean we can take a life based on just that people should be
educated about both the sides and then given the choice. The whole summary of the
document is that what we value more in the world. As Phillips herself says, this is “a film
that asks the question – what kind of society do we want to live in?”
ROLL NO 71

NURAIN SHAIKH