Mom Disgusted After Photo Spreads Online Mocking Her Children with Rare Deformity
Bobbie-Jo Theriault and her husband wanted to give their son, Jayden, a sibling when they decided to have another baby. Soon, Theriault became pregnant with not just one baby, but three!
“We didn’t use fertility drugs. It just happened and it was unexpected but I don’t believe in abortion or anything so I believe in having the kids and I am blessed,” Theriault told WTHR in 2010.
But not everybody has recognized Jayden and his three younger siblings as the blessings they are. In fact, people have publicly made known their own belief that Theriault should have made different family planning choices.
Suggesting that a family’s children are a mistake is incredibly hurtful and inappropriate.
Perhaps even more hurtful, the criticism this family received was in the form of a cruel meme made to simply make others laugh.
The meme showed a picture of the family with the text: “When you don’t learn from your mistakes.” Of course, mocking children online is no laughing matter.
“When I saw it I was so disgusted… Nobody knows my story or my family’s story and yet they think it is okay to post this kind of thing,” Theriault shared with Daily Mail.
The meme is disgusting regardless of the family’s backstory. However, the person who created the meme and all of those who have found it humorous might not realize Theriault and her children look the way they do because of a rare genetic deformity.
They have Crouzon Syndrome. Their facial features are different from the norm because the condition causes one’s skull bones to fuse too early while the brain is still growing.
People noticed the misshapen heads and wide-set eyes. But, those who laughed at the photo probably did not take the time to consider the journey this family has taken because of Crouzon Syndrome.
Though they’ve been through much more intense situations, like reconstructive surgery, this family did not deserve to be mocked online and turned into a meme for others’ entertainment.
It has made Theriault even more concerned for the type of bullying her children will endure as they get older and go online.
The parents have worked hard over the years to help their children lead lives that are as normal as possible. Hopefully, stories like this one will remind people to think before sharing a “funny” meme at somebody else’s expense.
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