YouTube personality Jesse Ridgway is doubling down on his and his wife Ashley's decision to abort their unborn son after learning he had Down syndrome, blasting critics who condemned the couple and accusing “very devout religious people” of directing “hate” toward them.
Ridgway addressed the controversy in a video posted last week, roughly three months after the couple revealed earlier this year that they had aborted their unborn child following a diagnosis of Trisomy 21, the chromosomal condition that causes Down syndrome. Ridgway acknowledged that he had “been pretty much laying low because I’ve had to just for mental reasons, emotional … you name it. “I’ve had it up to here with people’s actions,” he said.
“Actually, no real actions. It’s mostly just been words.” Ridgway recalled that he and Ashley had announced their pregnancy earlier this year and were “super excited” to be expecting a baby boy. That changed after what he described as a “definitive diagnostic tool” indicated that their unborn child had Down syndrome. He pointed to potential health complications associated with Down syndrome, including “heart abnormalities, vision issues” and hearing problems, as well as developmental disabilities.
Although the couple initially planned to continue the pregnancy, Ridgway said he began researching what life with Down syndrome could look like for the child and the rest of the family. “I just did not fully comprehend just how much health turmoil there would be,” he said.
Ridgway then said he had rejected what he described as the tendency to “glamorize” Down syndrome by calling it “a blessing.” While acknowledging that many parents choose to have children with Down syndrome and “make it work,” Ridgway said his research ultimately led him to conclude that continuing the pregnancy “just didn’t seem right.”