Chelmsford toddler to be on Times Square billboard for Down Syndrome campaign

A photo of two-year-old Violet from Chelmsford will appear on a Times Square billboard to raise awareness about children with Down’s syndrome.

The billboard slideshow is a campaign by the National Down Syndrome Society which will show 500 pictures of people with the condition in one of the busiest locations in the world.

In Great Britain, abortion is currently permitted for most reasons up to 24 weeks, and up to birth if the unborn child is deemed to have a disability such as Down’s syndrome.

A real joy

Violet’s mother Rebecca has shared how thrilled she is that Violet’s picture was chosen out of over 2,600 entries.

She said: “it was amazing, I just couldn’t wait to tell everybody”, adding; “She’s not had the greatest start in life, so it’s going to be amazing to see her up there.”

Rebecca explained: “It’s all about promoting understanding and trying to educate everyone that having a child with Down’s syndrome is not the end of the world, it’s actually a real joy”.

Pushed towards termination

Kat Booker, mother of a little girl called Nancy, has spoken out about the pressure she faced to abort her baby after her daughter was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome.

She explained: “I was just being told how difficult everything was going to be and all the things that Nancy quite possibly wouldn’t do, but not being given any other information as in there are children living quite happily with Down’s syndrome.”

Kat said that she felt like she “was being pushed towards termination, because it was the easier thing to do”, but she went ahead with her pregnancy and now describes her daughter as a “dream”.