The Shortlist of the Alfred Fried Photography Award 2015
One in Eight Hundred
After the implementation of pre-natal screenings across all of Denmark in 2004, the number of newborns with Down syndrome dropped dramatically. Between 2000 and 2004 around 60 children were born with the chromosomal disease each year, but in 2006 only 31 were born. More than 95% of all Danish parents-to-be decide to have an abortion if they find out that they carry a baby with trisomy 21 - a drastic change of the social landscape.
Emmy is five years old and has Down syndrome. With her parents Martin and Karina and her younger brother Kristian, she lives in the countryside in the middle of Denmark. She has attended the local kindergarten for a year now and is about to have her first day of school at a public inclusive school, 30 kilometres away from home. Her parents had to fight the municipality to find the right place for Emmy.
Karina and Martin were given a low risk of 1:800 at their screening. “Emmy just happened to be the one”, they say today. The cut-off is set at 1:300, meaning that for such probability invasive measures are recommended by doctors. Only the invasive test can give a clear answer about the health of the foetus.
Today the small family has managed to create a home full of life and warmth, even though, in the first months after Emmy was born, they were in shock and had to align their expectations. They had to rethink their ideas of what is normal or perfect.
The world in their everyday life turns a little bit more slowly as Emmy just takes her time with many things. They are aware of that but seem to have arranged themselves with it just fine. It is not sure how the issue will develop in Denmark through the next years. For me that development is a sign of our pursuit of perfection. We don’t feel comfortable about bumps in the road and need to plan and know everything in advance. The story of Emmy and her family shows how much you can gain if you let life surprise yourself from time to time.
After the implementation of pre-natal screenings across all of Denmark in 2004, the number of newborns with Down syndrome dropped dramatically. Between 2000 and 2004 around 60 children were born with the chromosomal disease each year, but in 2006 only 31 were born. More than 95% of all Danish parents-to-be decide to have an abortion if they find out that they carry a baby with trisomy 21 - a drastic change of the social landscape.
Emmy is five years old and has Down syndrome. With her parents Martin and Karina and her younger brother Kristian, she lives in the countryside in the middle of Denmark. She has attended the local kindergarten for a year now and is about to have her first day of school at a public inclusive school, 30 kilometres away from home. Her parents had to fight the municipality to find the right place for Emmy.
Karina and Martin were given a low risk of 1:800 at their screening. “Emmy just happened to be the one”, they say today. The cut-off is set at 1:300, meaning that for such probability invasive measures are recommended by doctors. Only the invasive test can give a clear answer about the health of the foetus.
Today the small family has managed to create a home full of life and warmth, even though, in the first months after Emmy was born, they were in shock and had to align their expectations. They had to rethink their ideas of what is normal or perfect.
The world in their everyday life turns a little bit more slowly as Emmy just takes her time with many things. They are aware of that but seem to have arranged themselves with it just fine. It is not sure how the issue will develop in Denmark through the next years. For me that development is a sign of our pursuit of perfection. We don’t feel comfortable about bumps in the road and need to plan and know everything in advance. The story of Emmy and her family shows how much you can gain if you let life surprise yourself from time to time.
