Book Tour Diary; My appearance on "The Arena" with Michael Coren

It was quite an experience taping part of "The Arena" in CNN studios in New York City.

The show went fairly well, Michael was running behind and only had me on five minutes. He promised to have me back on again, and I look forward to it. There was so much I want to discuss.
I can't find an archived show, but I'll post it if I get it.

He asked me about how I got involved in Ds advocacy so I told him about trying to discuss Ds with local doctors in NY with little success, so I took to the internet, and ended up in TV and with my book.
.
Michael then asked did I take discrimination against those with Down syndrome, in the form of the 92% abortion rate personally, and I said that I do take it personally despite the fact that we did not often see prejudice in person, mostly I think because Christina my nine year old is so charming, but that it wounds me viscerally when I think of how 92% of babies with Ds are aborted, and know that with MaterniT21 this is likely increase 50 fold.
The most challenging question was next, Michael told me he was getting personal, and then asked me if I would take away Christina's Down syndrome if I could.
That was difficult and put me on the spot, because there's lots of discussion in the Ds community about whether people with Ds will be changed if new medical advances offer drastic changes in their learning and memory. So I said I wasn't against using such therapies if they became available and were safe, but that if she took such medicine, Christina would be more herself, since she would only be more able to express her thoughts. I said I didn't wish for Christina's Down syndrome to be taken away, because it is part of her. I hope that was a good answer, honestly I have difficulty deciding how much my daughter is due to her enhanced chromosomes. We don't really know, do we?
I am very grateful for the opportunity to advocate for the unborn with Down syndrome on "The Arena" and look forward to returning to the show.