Do The Jolie-Pitt Twins Have Downs Syndrome?

[OneLostGrl]

Did you ever see the picture of what the Gallery of the Absurd did when Angelina was pregnant with Shiloh? At that time everyone was predicting what a perfect and beautiful child they would have so they took that idea and ran with it.

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:crazy:

 

[crazycatladyscotland]

My charming son Hunter, seen in my avatar has down syndrome. The twins do not. Once you have a baby w down syndrome, it's almost instantly noticeable to you. All the little features that these kids share.

If you have any other questions about DS, please ask! Not stupid questions and I am not embarrassed. Additionally I can tell you about all kinds of unique physical features that are found in kids with DS which are why I know neither of these babies have DS.


Ok ttyall later

Hello, I have a neice with ds. She is now 23, mentally about 9 years old and physically about 13 years old, and she is the best blessing our family has ever received. A lot of people would ask her sisters to be a part of their weddings, but never her, so she was the flower girl at my wedding and was (apart from my hubby) one of the best memories of the day. I remember when she was born, we had no advance diagnosis, but at birth we knew. I was 10 when she was born, and my parents and I took her every weekend, and I spent all my time with her, so I love her dearly. Her Hugs are so powerful, so genuine, that they are the most wonderful things on this planet.

I too can confirm these children do not have downs. I can't quite get my head around who could have come up with such a story. I think they have looked out photos with downs traits (such as the tounge sticking out in younger children) to justify the story, but as you have said, it is not true.

Your little one is adorable, and I know not everything is a positive, they can have medical problems (we almost lost my neice many times in her early childhood due to chest or other infections) and it can break your heart, But I can tell from your post that you know they are the most wonderful, loving, caring, innocent children, and I am so glad this little soul found his way into the life of someone who loves and appreciates him for who he is. It has made my heart so warm today, thank you.

 

[forthelost]

Their mother is not over forty, and they're fraternal. The chances of two fraternal twins both having Down syndrome is almost nonexistant. And they don't have the symptoms - no epicanthal folds of the eyes, no protruding tongue, no doughy skin color/texture, the jaw isn't small, the ears aren't abnormally shaped. I can't tell from a picture if they have flattening of the back of the skull or decreased muscle tone, but I doubt they do.

The reason they aren't seen often is probably twofold - one, they want to avoid that kind of publicity, and two, since they were premature they're at a higher risk for RSV.

 

[Ssejors]

Vivienne does display some physical characteristics which some medical professionals might refer to as FLK (Funny Looking Kid syndrome). Not a dx in and of itself per se, but more an overall suspicion based on observation of behaviors and physical characteristics leaving the observer with a gut feeling that something could be off with a particular child.

Vivienne does NOT display two of the many features a clinician might look for when exploring a formal dx of DS - single palmar crease and clinodactyly.

I would prefer that Down Sydndrome NOT be refered to as FUNNY LOOKING KID Syndrome... I totally take offence!

 

[Ssejors]

Additionally, I just turned 32, my son will be 3 in april. The majority of women having children WITH Down Syndrome are NOT over 35. More women UNDER 35 are having Children than women over 35. Your chances INCREASE with age, but like i said, the majority of women having babies with DS are under 35.


earlier i meant to say that there are NO stupid questions. I didnt mean Dont ask me stupid questions. Sorry !

If you all care to know, in CANADA, 90 % of all BABIES PRENATALLY Diagnosed WITH Down Syndrome are terminated. That means that 9 out of 10 women who are pregnant and receive a diagnosis that their baby has DS, will terminate the pregnancy. How sad. The numbers are equally similar in the US.

My son is 3, he behaves like a 3 year old boy. He is stubborn, ornery, determined, hard headed, silly, smiley, and totally typical.

which reminds me, We dont like to refer to kids as NORMAL kids, Cause i have 3 kids, and NONE of them are Normal. I (and most people with kids who have special needs) prefer to call kids with out special needs, TYPICAL Kids. They are typical, not normal, because really, who's normal meter are we working off? I think eating crayons is normal. Do you?

 

[craftybatchy]

Vivienne does display some physical characteristics which some medical professionals might refer to as FLK (Funny Looking Kid syndrome). Not a dx in and of itself per se, but more an overall suspicion based on observation of behaviors and physical characteristics leaving the observer with a gut feeling that something could be off with a particular child.

Vivienne does NOT display two of the many features a clinician might look for when exploring a formal dx of DS - single palmar crease and clinodactyly.

I reread my post several times and fail to see where I referred to DS as FLK.
It is clear that Vivienne does not have DS and I stated as such. Upon a cursory physical exam, a clinician might say to a colleague * That Jolie-Pitt, isnt she an FLK *.

FLK may be used when a childs overall habitus falls outside of what a clinician might consider to be typical for gender, age, and ethnicity. It is used before a formal dx is given and could encompass any number of traits ie.
macro/microcephaly, anteverted nares, retrognathia, facial symmetry or lack thereof, and is not reserved solely to refer to a child with DS.

 

[gitana1]

I would prefer that Down Sydndrome NOT be refered to as FUNNY LOOKING KID Syndrome... I totally take offence!

Additionally, I just turned 32, my son will be 3 in april. The majority of women having children WITH Down Syndrome are NOT over 35. More women UNDER 35 are having Children than women over 35. Your chances INCREASE with age, but like i said, the majority of women having babies with DS are under 35.


earlier i meant to say that there are NO stupid questions. I didnt mean Dont ask me stupid questions. Sorry !

If you all care to know, in CANADA, 90 % of all BABIES PRENATALLY Diagnosed WITH Down Syndrome are terminated. That means that 9 out of 10 women who are pregnant and receive a diagnosis that their baby has DS, will terminate the pregnancy. How sad. The numbers are equally similar in the US.

My son is 3, he behaves like a 3 year old boy. He is stubborn, ornery, determined, hard headed, silly, smiley, and totally typical.

which reminds me, We dont like to refer to kids as NORMAL kids, Cause i have 3 kids, and NONE of them are Normal. I (and most people with kids who have special needs) prefer to call kids with out special needs, TYPICAL Kids. They are typical, not normal, because really, who's normal meter are we working off? I think eating crayons is normal. Do you?

You forgot beautiful! Your kid is a doll!

But in defense of the person who made the FLK comment, I may be wrong, but I didn't take that to mean a reference to DS. I though it just meant that they saw some features that did not look typical and thus sometimes suspected something might be going on, but not DS. It's probably just the way some medical professionals may refer to certain things to keep from going mad amidst all the pressure. But, I could be wrong!

I do believe however, that most people who see a child with Down's Syndrome don't see a funny looking kid, they see a beautiful soul. You know, my dear dad had a strange theory. He had a theory that people weren't born with souls. They had to work for one. He had a list of things that people had to achieve in order to develop a soul, like empathy. But he stated that children with DS did not have to work for a soul - they were automatically born with one due to inherent purity.

That may be annoying to hear as a parent of a kid with DS because I'm sure most such parents just know their kids are pretty much like every other kid. Some chromosomal issues, but otherwise, just like everyone else with the same feelings and emotions, sometimes good and sometimes bad. But I can't help but sympathize with his position because something in my heart feels warm when I see a kid with DS. I can't explain why.

In any event, I think it is sad that the tabloids have to question possible medical issues involving any child, celebrity parentage or not. Or to otherwise question their sexuality, or temperament, etc., like I have seen them do. Kids should just be left alone. I wonder where we lost common decency in this world. The kids did not ask to be in the public sphere and they should be given privacy, IMO.

 

[OneLostGrl]

You forgot beautiful! Your kid is a doll!

But in defense of the person who made the FLK comment, I may be wrong, but I didn't take that to mean a reference to DS. I though it just meant that they saw some features that did not look typical and thus sometimes suspected something might be going on, but not DS. It's probably just the way some medical professionals may refer to certain things to keep from going mad amidst all the pressure. But, I could be wrong!

I do believe however, that most people who see a child with Down's Syndrome don't see a funny looking kid, they see a beautiful soul. You know, my dear dad had a strange theory. He had a theory that people weren't born with souls. They had to work for one. He had a list of things that people had to achieve in order to develop a soul, like empathy. But he stated that children with DS did not have to work for a soul - they were automatically born with one due to inherent purity.

That may be annoying to hear as a parent of a kid with DS because I'm sure most such parents just know their kids are pretty much like every other kid. Some chromosomal issues, but otherwise, just like everyone else with the same feelings and emotions, sometimes good and sometimes bad. But I can't help but sympathize with his position because something in my heart feels warm when I see a kid with DS. I can't explain why.

In any event, I think it is sad that the tabloids have to question possible medical issues involving any child, celebrity parentage or not. Or to otherwise question their sexuality, or temperament, etc., like I have seen them do. Kids should just be left alone. I wonder where we lost common decency in this world. The kids did not ask to be in the public sphere and they should be given privacy, IMO.

It was like that with Jett Travolta too.. so sad! You hear people say about celebs all the time "they are famous they put themselves out there" but come on people these gossip hounds need to leave their children alone!

 

[gitana1]

It was like that with Jett Travolta too.. so sad! You hear people say about celebs all the time "they are famous they put themselves out there" but come on people these gossip hounds need to leave their children alone!

You're right. And to be raised in such a fishbowl must be so hard. The media used to have standards. Now we have all these nasty rag mags. Everyone is a target.

 

[jjenny]

I was watching "mystery diagnosis" show and the girl had mosaic down syndrome. For those who hasn't seen the show, it's about actual patients that take a long time to diagnose. Until she got sick with mystery disease, her mosaic down syndrome wasn't diagnosed because mosaic down syndrome was not obvious from her appearance. You can see her photo in the link below-as you can see it's not obvious she has down syndrome.
If these twins do have down syndrome, it could be mosaic.
http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/

 

[jjenny]

Thanks for the info. I don't want to contradict a mom of a DS kid since clearly you know much more than I ever could on the subject! But, from what I have read, kids with DS have certain features that are detectable immediately by a doctor, at birth, like hand creases, etc. Of course I understand doing a blood test. Especially if a doctor doesn't want to come out and say, "Look, you child appears to have characteristics of DS." It's easier to say, "hey, we need to runs some tests here." Then, the test is done and may simply prove what the doctor knows and gives the parents certainty. In any event, by the age these kids are now, surely their pediatrician would know if there was an issue and they appear to have none of the features of classic DS.
I was interested to learn about mosaic DS. I'd never heard about that before! However, what I just read indicates that it is not Down Syndrome, but a disorder in which the child has some of the chromosomal abnormalities of DS but not all. I checked out this website that has tons of pictures of kids with the disorder. http://www.trisomy16.org/html/mosaic16.html Looking at those pics, many people could have the disorder and in some cases it would be hard to tell by physical appearance exactly what's going on. Some have slight DS features but not all.
But the question was whether the Jolie-Pitt kids have DS, by which I take to mean, classic Down's Syndrome and IMO, they most certainly do not. I also don't think there's a chance they have any form of it, like Mosaic DS. They both look very normal to me, although the girl has a slightly bulbous forehead which is fairly typical in some kids.

Mosaic down syndrome is a type of down syndrome but the difference is, while in full down syndrome all of the cells have an extra chromosome, in mosaic down syndrome only some of the cells have an extra chromosome. The individuals with mosaic down syndrome can have all of the same characteristics as full down syndrome, or just some of the characteristics, so there is a wide range of characteristics that they can have.
http://www.mosaicdownsyndrome.com/faqs.htm