Thursday, 21 March 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Katie HALL (Footscray) (10:02): Today is World Down Syndrome Day, and today we raise awareness about the rights and inclusion of people with Down syndrome, with the theme ‘End the stereotypes’. Today I would like to pay tribute to an exceptional young woman from my electorate, Greta, who is here in the chamber today. In Greta’s words, she was born with something extra – she has mosaic Down syndrome. Mosaicism, or mosaic Down syndrome, is diagnosed when there is a mixture of two types of cells with 46 and 47 chromosomes. Greta does a great job educating her school community about having something extra through sharing her story. She loves netball, footy and going on holidays, and of course she is a Swiftie.

I first met Greta’s mum Lizzie when I called her out of the blue as her local MP, and we had a wonderful chat about mosaicism. When I was pregnant with my daughter Matilda, like many expectant parents I did a non-invasive prenatal test and was told it came back with a trisomy, and it ended up being confined to the placenta. Greta, thank you for sharing your story with your fellow students at Yarraville West Primary School and to your mum for all the support she provides through the podcast One Screened Every Minute, presenting in-depth conversations with people about how they navigate decision-making after receiving unexpected non-invasive prenatal screening tests, which can often raise more questions than answers. Thank you, Greta, for everything you do.