The Book
It's been five years since I first sat down to write Choosing Noah. In order to tell Noah's story, I had to first tell mine.
Choosing Noah Foundation
Despite the fears, choose love.
Hope for families facing a Down syndrome diagnosis.
A family hears the news. What happens next is a choice.
Choosing Hope
Nobody should hear it the way she did.
A diagnosis, a list of statistics, and no one to say congratulations. We deliver the congratulations — a gift box at the door, and a parent who has been there.
Choosing Community
It takes a village. We build the village.
Monthly support groups and family gatherings where the parent three years ahead of you is in the room.
Choosing Inclusion
Inclusion doesn't happen by accident. Somebody has to choose it.
Afternoons hosted with local businesses that open their doors to children of every ability. Always free to families.
We walk with families from the day of a Down syndrome diagnosis forward — hope when the news arrives, community so no parent carries it alone, and a world that includes our children on purpose.
Why we exist
A prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis is usually delivered as bad news.
Choosing Noah Foundation is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit serving families across the United States, walking with them from the day of a Down syndrome diagnosis forward — hope when the news arrives, community for the years after, and inclusion for the world their child grows up in.
Yami's medical team gave her a list of worst-case scenarios and no path forward. In her second trimester, doctors suggested she end the pregnancy. Her husband and close family, frightened for her, agreed.
She said no.
The gap between the moment a parent hears the diagnosis and the moment they find anyone who tells them it will be okay — that is the gap Choosing Noah exists to close.
Read our story- 1 in 700
- U.S. births are a child with Down syndrome
- 6,000
- babies born with Down syndrome each year
- About half
- also have a congenital heart defect, like Noah
Three pillars
Choosing Hope. Choosing Community. Choosing Inclusion.
Support for families of children with Down syndrome and other disabilities, following the arc of a family's real journey: hope on the day of a prenatal or new diagnosis, a parent community and support groups for the years after, and inclusion events that open up the world their child grows up in. They're verbs because the foundation was born out of a choice.
Meet Super Noah
A boy who loves school and colors and his brothers — who happens to have Down syndrome and a repaired heart.
Born in 2018. Open-heart surgery at three months. Walking on his own since April 2021. His first word was “mum.” The family rule is to celebrate the big things and the little things, out loud.
“Our strength didn't suddenly appear. It was built over time.”
Give
Donations open soon.
We're getting everything in place to accept gifts the right way. Join the newsletter and you'll be the first to know when giving opens, along with family stories and the next Choosing Inclusion event.
Stay close
Get the next chapter before anyone else
Family stories, the next Choosing Inclusion event, and what your support made possible. A few times a year, never more.
Join by emailSend us a quick note and we'll add you to the list. You can also follow @choosingnoah.