Harvard surveyed 2,044 parents raising a child with Down syndrome. 99% loved their child. 79% said the kid made them more positive about life. 4% regretted having them.
Then they asked the kids themselves. 284 of them, all 12 or older. 99% said they were happy with their lives. 97% liked who they were and 96% liked how they looked.
Brothers and sisters too, 822 of them. 88% of the older ones said they were better people because of their sibling. Over 90% planned to stay involved in that sibling's life as adults. Less than 5% wished for a different brother or sister.
In 2007, Vanderbilt researchers compared the marriage records of more than 370,000 Tennessee families. Couples raising a child with Down syndrome had a divorce rate of 7.6%, compared to 11.2% for couples raising kids without disabilities.
Polish researchers found the same pattern in other disabilities. They asked 142 fathers raising kids with intellectual disabilities how raising their child had changed them. 86% said they had grown stronger as people. The two biggest changes: appreciating life more, and getting closer to the people around them.
The WHO estimates that 8 million babies are born with a disability every year, around 6 in every 100. Across countries and surveys, the parents say their lives feel more meaningful, the brothers and sisters say they grew up to be better people, and the kids themselves are happier with their lives than most of the people scrolling Twitter.