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My guest for The Happy Hour #132 is Heather Avis. Heather is wife to her man Josh, and mother to the adorable Macyn, Truly and August. After working as an Education Specialist she found herself as a full-time stay-at-home mom when she and her husband adopted their first daughter, Macyn, in 2008. Shortly thereafter, in 2011, they adopted their second daughter, Truly. And in 2013, their son August was born and came home to be theirs. Heather currently resides in Southern California where between oatmeal making, diaper changing and dance parties, she just finished writing her first book and uses her hit Instagram account @macymakesmyday, to share the awesomeness of all things Down syndrome and adoption.

In my conversation with Heather, I learn all about the journey that God took Heather and her husband on to bring home their three gorgeous children. Heather shares about how God changed her heart to pursue adopting a child with Down Syndrome. She talks about some of the misconceptions and the language people use when talking about children with special needs. And she also shares the staggering statistics on doctors recommending aborting babies with Down Syndrome. It took my breath away, and I imagine it will for some of you too.

This was my first time meeting Heather, and I absolutely loved getting to know her. She cares fiercely for and advocates for the underdog, and she believes God's goodness and beauty are found in the seemingly uncomfortable places.

Coming up next week, on World Down Syndrome Day, Heather will release her very first book. I can't wait to read it, and I know you'll love hearing more of her story as well. Make sure to pre-order your copy here.

{You can listen to the show HERE. And of course, I would love if you would share with your friends. Just use the FB & Twitter links at the end of this post!}

Links from the Show

Heather's Book: The Lucky Few

World Down Syndrome Day

Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon + I See Red by Amy Piers

What Heather is loving: Amazon Echo and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Music from Jason Poe

Connect with Heather

Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

Connect with Jamie

Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

Sponsors:

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2 Comments

Frances on March 15, 2017 at 6:20 pm

Such a great show, thanks Heather & Jamie.

I wanted to chime in a little on the testing done On pregnant women for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. I’m not an expert, but I was 23 when my husband and I had our first daughter (pregnant 6 years ago), and I didn’t know anything about my choices for testing etc as a pregnant woman (I’m in Canada so things may be a little different here). I had a Dr/OB the first time around and when I went in to confirm pregnancy I was automatically given all of these requisitions for different tests and just told to do them, I didn’t know what they were for, or whether they were optional or anything. Around 12/13 weeks I had blood work and an ultrasound done as part of the “prenatal screening”. It came back that my daughter had a “high” chance of Down syndrome based on the combined results of my ultrasound and bloodwork. If I wanted a definite answer I would have to have amniocentesis and see a genetic specialist. I declined bc the amnio has a chance of miscarriage and I knew the knowledge would not change our decision to have her. I don’t know if the amnio would have given us a positive result for Downs Syndrome but she was born at 42 weeks, 7lbs 7 oz and no chromosome or other abnormality. The blood test had given me a false positive and I had spent my whole pregnancy worried about her future, about my ability to parent a child with Downs Syndrome, hoping and praying she wouldn’t have it and then hating myself for feeling that way because we know ppl with it and we love them. It was awful and I was so mad to find out that the blood test had such a high rate of false positives. Maybe it’s changed in the last six years but I hate that it’s looked for as a reason for terminations. I’ve had 2 more births since my first, and am expecting my 4th baby this summer. I have been in midwifery care for these 3 pregnancies and it was such a difference when it came to genetic screening. I was told up front it was a choice and I have refused it all three times. With my third, at his 20 week anatomy scan I was told the base of some part of his brain was possibly too large, but the measurement was not certain and so there was a possibility of Down Syndrome but I would have to undergo more testing if I wanted to know. My midwife had to give me that info, and we refused further screening and she was super respectful and understanding of our decision. He was also born full term with no genetic abnormalities.

This is just our experience with the screening but I just don’t trust the accuracy of it.

Thanks again Jamie!

Joy on March 16, 2017 at 7:30 pm

Great show! I think Heather said so many great things, and I think it’s so important to talk about the pressure from doctors regarding prenatal screening. Even knowing the stories from so many of my friends, hearing the number of pregnancies terminated because of a Down diagnosis was shocking and heartbreaking. I’m so glad Heather is educating so courageously and lovingly.

Heather’s words about People First language also got me thinking about things besides Down Sundrome and adoption, too, and I wrote about it on my blog (even though it scared me to do so, I really felt them speaking to my heart). http://jumbledupjoy.blogspot.kr/2017/03/happy-endings.html.

Thanks for a wonderful show!

Submit a Comment

Frances on March 15, 2017 at 6:20 pm

Such a great show, thanks Heather & Jamie.

I wanted to chime in a little on the testing done On pregnant women for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. I’m not an expert, but I was 23 when my husband and I had our first daughter (pregnant 6 years ago), and I didn’t know anything about my choices for testing etc as a pregnant woman (I’m in Canada so things may be a little different here). I had a Dr/OB the first time around and when I went in to confirm pregnancy I was automatically given all of these requisitions for different tests and just told to do them, I didn’t know what they were for, or whether they were optional or anything. Around 12/13 weeks I had blood work and an ultrasound done as part of the “prenatal screening”. It came back that my daughter had a “high” chance of Down syndrome based on the combined results of my ultrasound and bloodwork. If I wanted a definite answer I would have to have amniocentesis and see a genetic specialist. I declined bc the amnio has a chance of miscarriage and I knew the knowledge would not change our decision to have her. I don’t know if the amnio would have given us a positive result for Downs Syndrome but she was born at 42 weeks, 7lbs 7 oz and no chromosome or other abnormality. The blood test had given me a false positive and I had spent my whole pregnancy worried about her future, about my ability to parent a child with Downs Syndrome, hoping and praying she wouldn’t have it and then hating myself for feeling that way because we know ppl with it and we love them. It was awful and I was so mad to find out that the blood test had such a high rate of false positives. Maybe it’s changed in the last six years but I hate that it’s looked for as a reason for terminations. I’ve had 2 more births since my first, and am expecting my 4th baby this summer. I have been in midwifery care for these 3 pregnancies and it was such a difference when it came to genetic screening. I was told up front it was a choice and I have refused it all three times. With my third, at his 20 week anatomy scan I was told the base of some part of his brain was possibly too large, but the measurement was not certain and so there was a possibility of Down Syndrome but I would have to undergo more testing if I wanted to know. My midwife had to give me that info, and we refused further screening and she was super respectful and understanding of our decision. He was also born full term with no genetic abnormalities.

This is just our experience with the screening but I just don’t trust the accuracy of it.

Thanks again Jamie!
Joy on March 16, 2017 at 7:30 pm

Great show! I think Heather said so many great things, and I think it’s so important to talk about the pressure from doctors regarding prenatal screening. Even knowing the stories from so many of my friends, hearing the number of pregnancies terminated because of a Down diagnosis was shocking and heartbreaking. I’m so glad Heather is educating so courageously and lovingly.

Heather’s words about People First language also got me thinking about things besides Down Sundrome and adoption, too, and I wrote about it on my blog (even though it scared me to do so, I really felt them speaking to my heart). http://jumbledupjoy.blogspot.kr/2017/03/happy-endings.html.

Thanks for a wonderful show!

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Happy Hour #132: Heather Avis