ADD 22Q to newborn screening

Hello All,

Just a quick note to inform each of you that in the first 84 days of this petition's life we received just 1700 signatures... BUT IN THE LAST 17 DAYS WE GAINED 2000signatures!!! This rapid increase is due to your much appreciated attention to this matter.
WE APPRECIATE YOU AND YOUR AID IN THIS EFFORT.

AND GET THIS.... A representative from Facebook causes emailed me this week and wrote "I noticed that your petition about 22Q has been gaining momentum on Causes." and expressed an interest to feature our petition on the Facebook Causes Healthcare Section page. I of course responded immediately and our petition is now listed on the Facebook Homepage for Healthcare Causes!!! ANOTHER HUGE SUCCESS!

Your help with this goal is not overlooked or under-appreciated. This is without doubt a collaborative effort of those dedicated to 22q awareness, but also requires the many people who don't know much about this syndrome but DO recognize the undeniable value of having a diagnosis from day one in the case that a child is born with the possibility of nearly 200 health or developmental risks.

The recent increase in signatures is proof positive that reaching our self-imposed goal of 10,000 signatures is absolutely possible with your continued support of this initiative. We encourage each of you again to send/share this petition link with all of your Facebook friends and take a moment to write a few words about why this is critical to all expectant parents everywhere. Combined with the fact that the U.S. has a unique opportunity to lead by example for the rest of the world and pave the way for our 22q community of friends and family around the world.

If you have friends or family that do not use Facebook please guide them to this alternative petition which was created for those who do not currently have a Facebook profile. http://www.change.org/petitions/add-6-test-to-u-s-newborn-screen-save-lives-money

I sincerely thank you for your attention to this, and thank you in advance for your continued support of this initiative.

My Best,
Michelle Breedlove Sells
The Dempster Family Foundation
MBreedloveSells@DempsterFamilyFoundation.Org

This petition was created on June 25th (3 months ago). Last Monday we only had 1723 signatures. So, I took to my facebook page and vented my personal frustration about being more than 8000 signatures away from the (very resonable) goal of 10,000 we hoped to gain by January 31st.

Many thanks to those who sounded the alarm and began fueling the fire of this cause.

OVER THE LAST 7 DAYS WE ADDED 1092 SIGNATURES!
THAT IS MORE THAN WE GAINED IN THE PREVIOUS 3 MONTHS!

BRAVO! We still have a little over 7000 to go, but at this pace we could meet our goal EARLY by November 26th!

Later today we will release information/link to an online petition for those without Facebook accounts. Please continue to help carry this cause petition to it's goal by continuing to post it and explaining why you signed and/or why you believe it's important.

Many Thanks
Michelle Breedlove Sells

We added another 200 signatures today! Over 500 signatures in the last two days!
If we keep up this pace in 9 days we can celebrate an impressive win in Round #1 of the fight to ADD 22Q TO US NEWBORN SCREEN!

32.000 children worldwide...

It's about every child around the world who did not get diagnosed today.

Some of those new parents are likely already experiencing the overwhelming fear of being told the baby is having some "issues". Others are completely unaware of the 186 hurdles that may await them tomorrow or next week, next month, three years... any day really.

Scary… right?! That's the point!

Knowledge is powerful stuff... A $6 dollar test can save a life or prevent that dreaded scene of rushing a child to an emergency room. There are also advantages to early interventions in speech, communication, and social interaction. Simply knowing provides the ability to seek tools and insight specific to a child's needs where school is concerned.

If you would want to know please sign this petition. Please actively seek others to do the same.

The Dempster Family Foundation