Trisomy Awareness - SHARE because you CARE!

The following tidbits of information for Trisomy Awareness month are brought to you by a passionate trisomy mom and friend, Alisha, who is part of the Hope for Trisomy organization. Visit our Facebook page to keep up with a month of facts, fun and inspiration!

This is Alisha with her full trisomy 18 son, Lane, who is 4 years old.

3/1/13: Today is the beginning of a very special month for us! Why you ask? It's the 3rd month of the year and so we celebrate MARCH as TRISOMY AWARENESS MONTH...with "tri" defined as, in intervals of 3. We will be bringing awareness to TRISOMY because awareness is the first step to education, and we will be educating by starting with the basics. When a child is born with a 3rd copy of a chromosome, then they have been born with a TRISOMY syndrome. When we are born, we all receive 23 chromosomes from each of our parents totaling 46 chromosomes. Your father's DNA decides what sex you will be on the 23rd chromosome he has given you. A TRISOMY syndrome can be made on any of the 23 chromosomes present in the body, which will then make the genetic makeup total 47 chromosomes. ♥  (I posted Day 1 on my last post, but I didn't want it to get lost. ;-)

3/2/13: On our 2nd day of MARCHING into TRISOMY AWARENESS MONTH, we are going to learn who is more likely to become pregnant with a child diagnosed with Trisomy. Can you guess? Well...the answer is, any female who can become pregnant! Trisomy DOES NOT discriminate! Trisomy doesn't care what age you are (although there is a higher risk in women older than 40), what ethnic group, what demographic location, or how much money you make! Trisomy can happen to you, a family member, or a friend! Please help us in bringing awareness to the WORLD. SHARE because you CARE. ♥

3/3/13: On our 3rd day of MARCHING into TRISOMY AWARENESS MONTH, we are going to share the 3 different types of TRISOMY. The 3 different types being FULL, MOSAIC, and PARTIAL. The most common type is FULL Trisomy, and this means the extra chromosome occurs in every cell of the body. This type of Trisomy is not hereditary. MOSAIC Trisomy occurs when the extra chromosome is present in some (but not all) of the cells of the body. Like Full Trisomy, Mosaic Trisomy is not inherited and is a random occurrence that takes place during cell division. PARTIAL Trisomy occurs when only "part" of an extra chromosome is present. Some Partial Trisomy syndromes may be caused by hereditary factors. It is important to note...while there are different types of Trisomy, this does not mean one is better for a child than another. With each type, there is a wide spectrum of severity. It is hard to say how the extra chromosome will impact an individual child from the genetic diagnosis alone. Share because you Care. ♥

Check out these Inspirational Trisomy Kids Stories brought to you by Hope for Trisomy.