Expecting a child is the most precious, and yet the scariest, time in someone’s life. I should know as I’m expecting a child myself. No matter what career path someone heads in, what their salary is, and whether or not there’s room for growth, being a parent will always be the most important job they will ever have for the rest of their lives. In fact, researchers say that having a child is equivalent to having 2.5 jobs, and that’s on top of the professional job you’ve inquired.
Chris Pratt has been making headlines lately, and it’s been more than just about his professional film career. He’s currently starring in Jurassic Park, but that’s been overshadowed by what he’s been known for lately – talking about his wife and children. For those of you that don’t know Chris Pratt is married to Katherine Schwarzenegger, who is the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Together they have two children. Pratt also has a son, Jack, from his previous marriage to fellow actress, Anna Faris, which ended in 2018.
Jack was born two months premature, and has multiple health issues, which include problems with his vision and his heart. Both Pratt and Faris individually opened up about their son’s health issues over the years, and they both have said that they considered themselves lucky that their son’s condition is much better than doctors had initially expected it to be. Other than that, not much is known about Pratt’s children. He and his children’s mothers don’t ever post much of anything about them. They keep their offsprings out of the public eye, which is pretty refreshing to see, at least in my own opinion anyway. In November 2021, though, Pratt came under fire by the public when he posted a tribute to his current wife and thanked her for giving him ‘a healthy child’. In public’s view, including public figures who host shows like ‘The Real’ and ‘The View’ seemed to have a lot to say about the matter, including the fact that it was inconsiderate of him to post such a tribute as it as an insult to his unhealthy son and a jab at his ex-wife.
The now-father-of-three kept fairly quiet since the backlash until recently when he did an interview promoting ‘Jurassic Park’. He stated that the public’s reaction, as well as the post itself, was f*cked up and he feared that his son will see it someday as it’s there on the internet forever in print. He’s both right AND wrong at the same time, and the majority of the public’s view came out of their asses because they most likely didn’t know what they were talking about in the first place. I’d like to add that this isn’t even an opinion I have. It’s a fact as this is me speaking as a person who was born unhealthy herself and had other health struggles as an adult woman. I’m also speaking as a woman who’s expecting her own child, and wants nothing more and nothing less than for her child to be healthy. In fact, when my husband and I were in the process of testing our unborn child for Down Syndrome or any other genetic diseases, I was very clear in my decision that if the test showed a high risk result, I’d have an abortion. I know first-hand what it’s like to grow up disabled, and I saw with my own eyes what having a disabled child was like for my parents. I wouldn’t want that for my child nor for myself and my husband.
Every parent hopes they have a healthy child, that’s the reality of bringing a new life into the world. At the end of it all, as a parent, it’s your responsibility to raise your child from them to become the great man or woman they’re meant to become as adults. I personally want my child to be raised to become an independent, compassionate, and empathetic human being. That’s something that’s extremely important to me as my child will have a mother who has multiple disabilities. I want my child to see the world as updated platform where women can do anything and people with disabilities can just the same as everyone else without being degraded to anything else.
When my mother was pregnant with me, there was still no way to see disabilities through ultrasounds. Appointments with the OBGYN weren’t as updated as they are today. I was born with cerebral palsy, and was officially diagnosed after I had my very first seizure at 7 months old. Of course, my parents were loving and raised me to be the woman that I am today. But is it selfish of them to wish that I was a healthy child? Would it have been selfish of them to be thankful that they had a healthy child if they were to have more kids? Absolutely not. They went through hell and back to make me the person I am today. They went through things that only those who’ve raised disabled children will ever understand.
Parents, specifically dads, of disabled children are really underestimated by society. There’s a whole stigma around a father’s role in a child’s life, even today. We need to change that, and we need to stop having an opinion around something we don’t understand. I’m just so thankful that there is such a thing as social media and other platforms where you can build communities to surround yourself with like-minded people without having the fear of judgement and any negative noise to bring in negative thoughts into your life. Instead of judging someone, let’s all try to remember to have empathy and compassion towards one another. At the end of the day, we’re all just people trying to get through life our own unique ways.
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