Whitten's passion for others was challenged by the news and pressure that was to come when she and her husband were 18 weeks pregnant with their first child. Upon seeing her amniocentesis that revealed her daughter had Down syndrome, Whitten described what she deemed as a “horrible experience.”
“I got the amnio at 18 weeks, then the genetics counselor showed a video," she said. "I remember it like yesterday. I could tell it was poorly done. It started by showing a child with Down syndrome and the narrator said, ‘There is an X percent chance your child will die in utero, there is a Y percent chance your child will die before age one, there is a Z percent chance your child will die before three. If your child lives, he or she will be susceptible to a number of medical conditions.’”
The video proceeded to list the possible medical conditions for what Whitten said seemed like an “eternity.” After the amateurish video finished, the genetics counselor returned and told her, “80 to 90 percent of parents abort children with Down syndrome, and you can too.”
Whitten chose life for her daughter Sophia. Sophia is now 10-years-old.
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