Unconditional Love

“All I want is a healthy baby.”


How often do we get this answer when we ask a mother if she wants a boy or girl?
This is another one of those societal norms that “everyone” just says without really thinking about it. Of course you want a healthy baby. Who would not want a healthy baby? No mother in her right mind wants their child to be born “imperfect”.


PERFECT. This is certainly a word I’ve uttered after my children were born. She is perfect. He is perfect. As I sit here and think about it--really think about it --they are perfect. Not just because they are my children and all mother’s think their own children are perfect but, my children are perfect for the same reason your children are perfect, God created them. Each and every single child, God created. And He doesn’t mess up!


Did you know that 92% of women that find out their pregnant with a child that has down syndrome abort that child? 92%!!!!!

 Bioethicist Luke Gormally argues “ In part, these pressures are the natural temptation to avoid the burdens of care for the handicapped….In part, however they are the pressure of cultural attitudes assimilated by many Christians, toward the child.”


He continues, “ For many it has become merely quaint to think of each child as a unique gift of God; children are more like planned acquisitions in our culture, acquisitions which should fit into our expectations about how our lives should go, about the ease and enjoyments that should characterize our lifestyle. A child who might threaten our ease may, if he or she is viewed as an acquisition, be thought of as a replaceable acquisition. And indeed genetic counselors will tell parents: You can terminate this pregnancy and try again for a ‘normal child’.


Just thinking about a child as an “acquisition” makes my stomach turn. However, Gormally is exactly right. Children in today’s society are thought of in just such a way. The common “ all I want is a healthy baby” phrase is so far from how we should think. Does it matter if your baby is healthy or not? Of course you want a healthy baby, that doesn’t need to be said. What needs to be said is “ I will love this child unconditionally no matter what.”


As Christians it is imperative that our thinking shifts. Our children are not acquisitions that should fit perfectly into our lifestyle. Children are blessings from God, they must be safeguarded and nurtured in the embrace of unconditional parental acceptance.

Don't forget to count all those little blessings!! :)