In the recent weeks after Gov. Sarah Palin was confirmed to be Sen. John McCain’s running mate the topic that has dominated conversation and political debates has been whether Sarah Palin’s’ judgment was in the right place when she and her husband decided to go through with the pregnancy of her youngest child, who was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome prenatally.

Since then Palin, in response to the criticism she has received, has taken to calling her son a “blessing” and, like her political peers, has begun to flaunt her entire family for the nation to see and potentially continue to critique and criticize.

Now, most people who feel the need to argue about Palin’s’ ability to take care of a child who has Down Syndrome don’t even know what Down Syndrome is themselves.

Or even what her child’s name is (its Trig by the way).

The consensus of most who disagree with Palin seems to be that if they themselves couldn’t do it how can a potential Vice President?

This is where I have a problem.

I understand the feeling that some people have about raising a child with special needs. It’s truly one of those things that some people are just not cut out to do, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you may not be one of those people. In fact, you’re actually doing a very responsible thing.

In the United States alone 150, 000 children with special needs are given up for adoption by people who where responsible enough to know they couldn’t handle the pressure of a special needs child.

But for people to condemn those who choose the opposite and bear the responsibility of raising a special needs child is just plain wrong.

If The Palins feel as if they can raise Trig in a loving environment where he will be nourished and taken care of, then I don’t see why it’s anyone’s business.

If they feel they are strong enough to deal with the difficulties that come with taking care of a special needs child then that’s their choice.

Yes, she may become our next Vice President, but does that mean she and her family aren’t capable of loving and caring for Trig all the same.

And whether it’s realized or not people aren’t just condemning a Vice Presidential candidate, they’re condemning mothers and fathers all over the country for making the same choice as Palin.

And that includes my mother and father.

On July 7th, 1988 my mother gave birth to two healthy baby boys who came 15 minutes apart.

Unlike Trig, my brothers’ condition was not diagnosed before we were born. So, when my parents realized that my brother wasn’t developing at the rate he should have been they knew something was wrong.

It was then that they learned that my brother had a condition known as Fragile X, a genetic disorder caused by a mutation on the X chromosome, and the only reason that I didn’t have the condition was because we aren’t identical.

My parents, like Sarah Palin and her husband, had to make the choice as to whether they could handle raising a special needs child.

They had to decide if they could deal with all the doctors’ visits, insensitive elementary schools, unsupportive high schools, and a system that’s designed to provide little if any help until my brother turned eighteen.

And of course there was still me, and, as I’m sure they would agree, I would turn out to be no walk in the park in raising either.

But, in knowing all the difficulties they would have to endure, my parents decided that they loved their son too much to give up on him.

And although I can never be sure as to their motives, my parents came to the same conclusion as the Palins.

Now, that doesn’t make The Palins or my family any better than those people who are convinced that they themselves couldn’t raise a special needs child, but it doesn’t make them worse either.

We all have the right to do what we think is best for our lives and those of our families.

Thier decision simply makes them parents who love and care for their child, and the last time I checked there was nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that at all.