Mother found out her twins have Down Syndrome - in the third trimester she made a decision that changed her life forever

Julie McConnell was ready to start her new life after she remarried. She already had three children from a previous marriage, and after she and her new husband Dan gave birth to a son, they decided to go for a daughter as well.

But during their trials, Julie once again learned that life can be unpredictable. She got pregnant.. with twins.

The chance of a woman giving birth to a baby with Down Syndrome after age 40 goes up to 1 in 100, so Julie and Dan knew they would pass all the vital tests. After a while, they discovered that the male twins would indeed be born with Down syndrome.

At age 45, Julie felt that raising two children with special needs would be too much. Instead, she and Dan found a family that wanted to adopt the twins, through a nationwide adoption network for children with Down Syndrome.

But after finding a new family for their sons, Julie and Dan found themselves repeatedly rejecting the signing of the adoption documents that would have made the adoption official.

"We wanted to do a test with ourselves and think about it again, so we contacted a local Down Syndrome organization", Julie said.

"They had a picnic, so we went and met up with some of the wonderful families who shared their experiences with us".

It was there, at the picnic, that the family came to the conclusion that they let fear interfere and that is what prevented them from expanding the family.

"You love your kids no matter what. When we finally decided we could not let fear stand in our way, it was an easy decision for us", Julie said.

In the third trimester, they decided to leave the kids in spite of everything. Milo and Charlie were born healthy and happy, and now Julie and Dan can not imagine their lives without them.

"My heart went out of my chest when I saw them. They regained my heart", Julie said. "It's hard to imagine life without them. I think I would have missed them every day if we had decided not to leave them".

Well, that brought us to tears. All the kids deserve a chance at life, and we're glad Julie and Dan decided to leave Milo and Charlie.

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