This Grey’s Anatomy Star Has Bravely Opened Up About Her Daughter’s Down Syndrome

It’s easy for us poor “common folk” to sit around in our two-bedroom houses, scroll through our 4-year-old contract cellphones after coming home from our everyday 9-5 desk job and think “Man, those celebrities have got it MADE. Their lives must be SO perfect and EASY.”

And I have no doubt in my mind that in most cases, you’d be absolutely right. However, it’s a little too easy to just assume that every celebrity has a life that is strife and worry-free and that nothing can or will ever deviate them from their plans. Celebrities, just like us, are thrown curveballs eeeeevery freakin’ day too, and just like us, they have to learn to navigate them all by themselves too.

Okay so, yeah, maybe it’s slightly easier for them to navigate due to their “status” or whatever, but there truly are things in this life that not even the amount of money you have can help you deal with or get through.

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

And this certainly couldn’t be any more true for Caterina Scorsone, who plays the role of Amelia Shephard on the hit show (and one of my personal favorites) Grey’s Anatomy, because she was in fact thrown a massive curveball when she found out that her daughter had Down Syndrome. Scorsone’s beloved daughter, whose name is Paloma (AMAZING name, FYI), is now two years of age, and the actress herself has spoken on the Motherly podcast about exactly how her life has changed once she found out about little Paloma’s diagnosis.

She even admitted that at first, she went “into a tailspin” after realizing that Paloma, who they sweetly call Pippa, “was going to have some physical differences and some cognitive differences.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

“What I unconsciously thought about my job as a mother was that I was supposed to equip her to survive in a competitive world,” Scorsone bravely shared. “This simple voice came to me where I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do — oh, I’m supposed to keep her safe and I’m supposed to make her feel loved. And suddenly my understanding of my job as a mother completely distilled and opened.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

Scorsone also noted that is wasn’t just the fact that her own relationship with Pippa was going to be unique, but also the relationship with her other daughter Eliza, who is currently seven years old.

“I saw how I was loving my first daughter, Eliza, for her qualities,” Scorsone pointed out. “I loved Eliza so much because she was so clever, and she was so beautiful and she was so funny … but all those things were external qualities.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

While re-examining her relationship with both her daughters, Scorsone was eventually able to change how she saw other people in her life as well.

“I had to confront that thought experiment of ‘I don’t know if [Pippa is] going to be clever, I don’t know if she’s going to be funny’ — which, of course, she is, and now that I know more about Down syndrome, I’m like, ‘Oh, what a stupid thought I had,'” the actress explained. “But I didn’t know, and it forced me to realize that I was loving my other daughter and everyone, including myself, for absolutely the wrong reason. I was loving people for their external qualities and not for their essence.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

“Pippa has two teeth on the bottom and four molars. She does not have a full mouth of teeth yet and it’s because literally, everything in her development is happening slower because of the enzymatic things that are going on with her extra chromes,” she shared. “She’s developing slower, but she’s still developing. She’s still hitting all of the milestones, it’s just happening at a different rate.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

Understandably, some parents may worry at first about how a sibling would see to treat a child who has Down Syndrome, however, Scorsone says that her oldest daughter doesn’t even think about it at all.

“All Eliza really thinks is that Pippa’s lucky because she gets to be a baby for longer,” she said. “They’re starting to have a fun dynamic. Eliza really likes to play Harry Potter with her and Pippa plays the role of Hedwig, and she can definitely say ‘Hoo Hoo’ and Eliza thinks that’s hilarious.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

Scorsone also admitted that she leaned on fellow Private Practice alum star Amy Brenneman, whose daughter also happens to have Down Syndrome.

“She and her husband Brad have a beautiful daughter named Charlotte who has a chromosomal variation, so I called her and brought all of my scared feelings to her and wept with her and grieved with her,” Scorsone shared. “I was like, ‘I don’t know how to do this. How do I do this?’ And she was like, ‘This is how you do it — you do it just like you would do with any other child. You learn who they are and you learn what they need.’”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

As for some golden pearls of wisdom and advice for any parents who find out that their child has Down Syndrome also, Scorsone says that it’s incredibly important to choose your words carefully.

“I definitely don’t say, ‘Oh you’re so lucky,’ because they have to grieve a perception that has been fed to them culturally our whole lives,” she shared. “When I feel like they’re ready for it, you say things like, ‘You hit the jackpot’ and ‘Oh my gosh, you get chosen for this experience, this is unbelievable and your world is going to open up in ways you could not have imagined.’ People said that to me at the beginning … and now I get to pay it forward.”

(Instagram – Caterina Scorsone)

And of course, at the end of the day, it is so incredibly touching to see Scorsone and other parents of children who have Down Syndrome out there so full of life and so super supportive of her little Pippa and their own special little treasures! Remember, no matter who you are, what you do, what you may or may not be born with – the only limitations you’ll ever have in life are the ones you place on yourself or the ones you allow other people to place on you!

Are you the parent of a child who has Down Syndrome, or know somebody that is? Would you like to share your own experiences of Down Syndrome with me? Well then feel free to do so in the comments! And don’t forget to share this your friends and family too… you neve know hwo this story may inspire! AAx

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