Parents of Down syndrome children learn ‘different’ can be beautiful

Abbey Richey, left, and mother, Lynette Richey. Photo courtesy of Chickasaw Nation.
Abbey Richey, left, and mother, Lynette Richey. Photo courtesy of Chickasaw Nation.

Parents first learning their soon-to-be born child has Down syndrome often experience lump-in-thethroat type fear.

Hearing such news is a forced leap into the unknown not only for their newborn, but for themselves. According to the Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma (DSACO), 72% of marriages of couples with a special needs child end in divorce.

Chickasaw citizen Elizabeth Duren and husban…