YouTuber Jesse Ridgway Announces Pregnancy Termination After Trisomy 21 Diagnosis, Citing Trauma

Jesse Ridgway announced on Instagram this week that he and his wife terminated a pregnancy after a prenatal test showed Trisomy 21. The post stated the decision was difficult and described the experience as traumatic, particularly for his wife Ashley. Trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, is a genetic condition in which a person is born with an extra chromosome, according to the CDC.

One in every 640 babies in the United States is born with the condition. ” In the footage he played a character who snaps and assumes the identity of someone with Down syndrome, using a stereotypical voice and mannerisms. The video shows Ridgway slurring the line “I have Down syndrome” and then saying “I want to go to Chuck E.

He later told TMZ that the scene depicted his character Isaac Kalder, whose brain was “fried” by rapid identity switches forced by family members holding him at gunpoint. Ridgway defended the performance as artistic, saying he was portraying someone whose brain had been damaged by the switches.

Medical sources note that people with Down syndrome do not have damaged brains; the structure is altered by the extra copy of chromosome 21.

Anti-abortion campaigners have stated that up to 90 percent of pregnancies in which Trisomy 21 is detected end in termination. Ridgway’s Instagram post did not reference the earlier video.