ALL ABOUT ANNIE
For the Forts family, who
were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their fourth child, March
10th, 1967 dawned as a bright, sunny spring-like day full of
anticipation and the start of another exciting adventure with
the birth of a new baby.
The next day, our rapidly
expanding balloon of tremendous joy and great plans for the
future were unceremoniously pierced and deflated by our
doctor. He told us that Ann appeared to be a Down Syndrome
diagnosed baby. Further, he strongly advised that we
immediately place her in an institution before we became too
attached to her by taking her home to join the family.
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That course of action was
completely unacceptable to us because, as a family, we already had
developed a strong bond with Ann during the previous nine months of
pregnancy. In the doctor's opinion, Ann's presence in our home would
have been a major hindrance in our ability to properly raise our other
children; she would never amount to very much in society; and finally,
she would never really enjoy her life or ever have many friends!! Well,
we all realize how very wrong he was. Can you imagine how different
Ann's life would have been if we took that doctor's uninformed advice??
There was no question,
that as a family we had to make many adjustments to our preconceived
thoughts and plans as to how we could best prepare Ann for a realistic
and meaningful role as a contributing and respected member of society.
We knew that all of our efforts to help and guide Ann required a
consistent and solid foundation of optimism, patience and love.
As a typical baby, Ann was
cute, lovable, and in the eyes of some people, different. Now, let us
all look at everyone around us. Aren't we all also different?
"Please
do not prejudge the limits of our abilities, just because we
happen to have a disABILITY. We need your help,
encouragement and friendship to become accepted and respected contributing members of our community." - Annie Forts
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The Annie Forts "UP"
Syndrome Fund, Inc.
PO Box 838, Moultonboro, NH 03254
Phone: (603) 253-9541
Text and Photos Copyright
©2002-2008
The Annie Forts "UP" Syndrome Fund, Inc.
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