A teacher in New Zealand has been disciplined by her school after a controversial comment under a video posted by the mother of a child with Down syndrome that, had she had a baby diagnosed with Down syndrome while pregnant, she would have “killed” it.
The comment was posted to TikTok, under a video from a mother who was sharing that she treated her differently-abled child the same way as any other child, The New Zealand Herald reported.
“Brave. If my test came back with that I would have killed it,” the unnamed teacher commented. “If I were I’d want mum to do the same.”
The mother of the Down syndrome child told the Herald she found the comment to be “very hurtful.”
She explained that she had seen similarly callous comments from “little teenage boys” but was surprised to see such a statement from an adult, especially a mother and teacher.
According to the Herald, which reviewed the conversation, the commenter claimed that her words had been misconstrued.
“You have taken my message the wrong way. I said you were brave and meant it. I couldn’t do it! I had the test while pregnant and had the talk about options. I couldn’t do it and think you are brave,” she wrote.
The mother was unconvinced.
“I think you’re just mad I called out your disgusting behaviour. I never asked for your unsolicited ableist comment,” she replied.
“Imagine if I went up to every mother and went ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you kept the baby, you are so brave,” the mother told the Herald.
“I had the baby nine months inside of me, why are you so shocked that I kept it?”
She explained that she wants to change the narrative about raising children with Down syndrome and encourage parents to know that they are “more than capable” of doing so.
“I wish the medical industry would stop trying to scare parents out of it,” the mother said.
She explained that while she underwent a series of tests while pregnant, she never considered aborting her child, and was shocked when, at 35 weeks gestation, she was asked if she was still having her baby.
“I think society has become so obsessed with being perfect that people are embarrassed to have children with Down syndrome,” she said.
While it is unclear how the teacher’s school got involved, the principal issued a message to parents in response which clarified they were aware of the post circulating online.
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