Down syndrome is one of the most common chromosomal disorders. The birth of a child with Down syndrome is a painful experience for the whole family, especially for the mother and the father, who have to deal with a storm of emotions. When experts tell parents the news, most are desperate and confused. Later, parents experience feelings of guilt, stress, and anxiety in the process of responding to the child's disorder. Coping with a child’s condition is a lengthy process that guides parents through the various stages of adjusting to life with a child with special needs. Women and men, however, respond to the diagnosis in different ways. In this master's thesis, we focused on how men and women face the Down syndrome diagnosis of their child, and what is the gender gap in their responses. We conducted eight interviews with four couples who have a child with Down syndrome. We interviewed each of them individually. We will present all interviews and connect the answers with theory. We found that all interviewees learned of their child’s diagnosis after birth. Upon confirmation of the diagnosis, the responses of the parents were quite different and they coped with the stress of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome in various ways. None of our interviewees felt responsible for the child's diagnosis. In addition, the intensity of emotions when dealing with the child's diagnosis differed between mothers and fathers. Almost all of the interviewees accepted the child's diagnosis, only one father has been struggling a bit to accept the diagnosis. Seven out of eight of our interviewees describe the birth of a child with Down syndrome as a positive experience. The relationships between the spouses from our study have changed for the better, only one couple reports that their relationship is different now since they have less time for each other.
It is important to be aware that men and women respond differently to traumatic events and stress. Therefore, it makes sense that they experience the diagnosis of their child with Down syndrome differently. The obtained data will help special education teachers and other professionals who work with parents of such children to better understand the gender gap in experiencing, emotions and coping with stressful situations. They will be able to use these data to improve their listening skills to help parents to cope with the diagnosis of their child. Proper cooperation between parents and professionals is essential for a child’s appropriate progress and development.
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