Connecting families

2/4/2026

The stigma over those born and living with Down syndrome has lightened over the years, but it has not been an easy journey. The positive actions of Jennifer Baldon are helping parents in the area educate themselves about their children, while also celebrating them. She does this with the help of Jack’s Basket.

Families deliver a basket that includes pamphlets with information on what the child has been diagnosed with, blankets, toys and other resources, from a member of a family that has experienced something similar. 

“When I had my twins, my boy twin had Down syndrome, and, at that point, we’d known for a while that he probably would, but we didn’t know for sure. We had absolutely no resources in front of us,” Baldon said.

She was then connected with someone from Jack’s Basket.

“We got to meet, and she sat down and talked with us about concerns, what a little bit of her experience has been, and it was just comforting knowing that there was somebody else out there who knew what we were going through. Just for the fact that we hadn’t been provided any resources up to that moment, I wanted to be able to share that with other people,” Baldon said.

Baldon says it is rare to have a set of identical twins with one of them having Down syndrome, but even rarer to have both twins be born with Down syndrome. 

Inspired by what happened with her after the birth of her twins, Baldon decided to get involved with Jack’s Basket. 

“When a new mother or family is either referred to or signed up to receive a basket, the organization will match them with someone who may have similar birth diagnoses or someone who might just be in the area. As of right now, I’m the only person in central Iowa that delivers baskets,” Baldon said.

Jack’s Basket connects Baldon with families in the area who have children with a similar diagnosis to her son. 

“When I am matched with someone, I will contact them. We will set up the time to deliver a basket and sit down and have a conversation and talk about their concerns or resources that they can go to,” Baldon said. “There’s a lot of local moms’ groups that I wouldn’t have known about. There’s Gigi Playhouse. There’s just a lot more out there that may not be readily available unless you’re connected to part of the community.”

The story of Jack’s Basket comes from a mother who had just given birth via c-section. The nurse told her, “Are you aware of Trisomy 21? Your baby is showing signs of Down syndrome,” followed by “Well, just enjoy your baby,” before leaving the room. Baldon had a similar experience.

“They’re good at what they do (doctors and nurses), but they’re not great at delivering that information. I did not have a very kind comment made to me when we were told that it was likely my son was going to have Down syndrome. I was 21 weeks along, and we were told that it was ‘too late to do anything.’ Not that that was ever the plan, but it was a shock that was said to me, and I have come across some people who have had worse comments,” Baldon said.

The main thing Baldon has encountered is that families simply do not know what to expect when raising a child with Down syndrome.

“I’ve met with expecting families who are familiar with Down syndrome but don’t necessarily know what to expect, what to ask, especially when they just first had their baby,” Baldon said. “It’s nice to be able to connect the people to the communities, because I don’t think at the early stages, most of us are connected as well as we could.”

Helping battle some of the stigma around those with Down syndrome is another front that Baldon is on. 

“I think a lot of people think that having a child with a disability is a burden; it is a lot of work, but it is definitely not that. As much as people say that children with Down syndrome are always happy, there are lots of moments that they’re not, but they’re a joy. They see the world a little bit differently, and it’s a lot of love and learning, a lot of acceptance, and there’s learning a lot of grace with other people. And it’s not the end. It is absolutely the beginning of everything,” Baldon said.

Overall, Baldon just wants to spread the word that there are helpful and caring people out there. While she did ultimately receive warm words from a geneticist at Mayo Clinic after her child’s birth, and further information about Jack’s Basket, she wants to make sure other expecting parents do not get the same initial comments that she did. 

“I just think that the main reason I wanted to be involved is because it was a very emotional time. And, for most women, just having a baby is an emotional time, and then there’s that heightened sense of, you’re scared, you don’t know what to expect, maybe you haven’t been received with the best community to accept your baby. It’s very important to me to have somebody be like, this is going to be OK, and there are people here who care,” Baldon said. ♦