Popular YouTuber announces he and wife aborted baby who had Down syndrome

A popular YouTuber filmed the moment that he and his wife learned their preborn child had Down syndrome, and then a week later, told followers they had aborted that baby because of the diagnosis.

Key Takeaways:

• Jesse Tyler Ridgway is a longtime content creator and YouTuber who has allegedly amassed over 1.5 billion views and has more than 3.7 million subscribers.

• He and his wife, Ashley, announced they were pregnant two months ago.

• In a series of videos, they revealed their son had Down syndrome; first, in a gender reveal video, and then confirming the diagnosis after an amniocentesis.

• Ridgway then posted that they had an abortion, solely due to the Down syndrome diagnosis.

The Backstory:

In a March 2026 Instagram post, Ridgway posed for pictures with his wife, proudly holding ultrasound photos to announce they were expecting their first child in the fall. Then Ridgway filmed as his family arranged the gender reveal for him. He explained on Instagram that the genetic testing came back with a high risk that their baby would be born with Down syndrome, or Trisomy 21. Oddly, he kept the details a secret from his wife, so as not to ruin their gender reveal video for their followers.

"Genders, everything's fine," he told her. "It's just, there's one of those like health-related things. It's better if we probably film and then talk about it afterwards or else it'll [censored] up. I don't want to ruin the moment. There's nothing — it's one of those early testing things, so we don't know."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) is a screening tool only, and an amniocentesis needs to be performed to confirm a diagnosis, which is exactly what Ridgway and his wife did.

In a second video, they revealed the results of that amniocentesis, which confirmed that their preborn son had Down syndrome.

the results of our amniocentesis came back...

As Ashley cried, Ridgway talked to the camera.

"Just kind of in shock, like... truly," he said. "We talked before this, guys, about 'what would we do if we confronted this scenario?' Because this was the more likely scenario. We talked about terminating the pregnancy. Obviously things could change because this is traumatic."

He then said they would need to discuss it with genetic counselors, and that Ashley was "almost halfway through this thing," placing her at around 18 to 20 weeks pregnant.

The Details:

Ridgway announced this week that he and his wife did go through with an abortion, and made it clear that it was solely due to the Down syndrome diagnosis.

"This week, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy due to Trisomy 21," he began. "The choice was not made lightly. We really appreciate all of the personal stories that you guys shared with us, especially the unconditional support we received from fans with no matter what we decided. I know some of you may be very disappointed to hear this news. We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley. She underwent the procedure earlier this week and is on the mend. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but emotionally we are drained."

Interestingly, he also said (emphasis added),

"When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they’re a little slow intellectually, then we’ll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may… but I just didn’t fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed."

He then began to paint an extremely negative, inaccurate picture of what Down syndrome is like, potentially regurgitating outdated information from the genetic counselor or doctor:

Once we made it public, it became clear that MOST people don’t know what Down Syndrome entails (and no, it’s not the same as Autism):

50% of babies with DS have heart defects. 75% will have hearing challenges. Over 50% will have vision problems. Impaired immune function, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, delayed physical development, poor muscle tone, structural issues with face, decreased lifespan, etc…Sadly, the list is long; feel free to look it up…Down Syndrome isn’t a “blessing”; it is objectively shi**y from a health perspective.

I didn’t realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family…more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life.

The miscarriage risk is also close to 50%, which made matters worse…they may never see the light of day, and it puts Ashley further at risk.

We spoke with doctors, friends, family, and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90% of women terminate their pregnancy after learning the baby has Trisomy 21.

He concluded, "I believe that’s because most terminations happen privately; it feels shameful. A lot of judgment being cast. You never think you’d be in this type of situation until it happens to you, and then things change."

Sadly, despite Ridgway's complaint of supposed judgment, the overwhelming majority of commenters across social media platforms applauded his decision to have an abortion.

Reality Check:

There are many outdated, offensive, inaccurate stereotypes of Down syndrome perpetuated by Ridgway in his harmful, discriminatory statement.

Some of what he said applies to the general population; a whopping three-quarters of Americans have problems with vision and need correction through glasses or contacts. One in seven Americans has hearing loss. These are health concerns for the entire population.

It is true that people with Down syndrome have learning delays, poor muscle tone, and other developmental delays. However, there have been huge advances in therapies and early intervention services, which help people with Down syndrome address these issues and work through them.

Live Action

@LiveAction

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They found out their preborn baby might have Down syndrome. So they violently ended his life. 67-80% of parents in the U.S. choose to abort their babies who receive a Trisomy 21 diagnosis. It's portrayed as compassion. But it's not. It's eugenics.

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10:00 PM · Jun 4, 2026

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There is an increased risk of heart defects and blood cancers in children with Down syndrome under the age of five. However, advances in medicine have allowed these conditions to be treated in many instances, while in previous decades, these heart defects may have brought an early death. Today, that is no longer the case.

Regarding cancer, people with Down syndrome are significantly less likely to develop solid tumor cancers than the general population, so much so that researchers are trying to determine why that is, so they can better help with cancer prevention and treatment for everyone. Young children with Down syndrome are more likely to develop leukemia, but the survival rate is extremely high — 90% — compared to 70% in the general pediatric population.

In addition, the life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has skyrocketed in recent years, to the point that people with Down syndrome can expect to live for nearly as long as the general population does.

Additionally, research has found that families that include children with Down syndrome are overwhelmingly happy and more fulfilled, with almost 100% of parents reporting that they love their child with Down syndrome, almost 90% of siblings saying their brother or sister with Down syndrome has made them a better person, and 99% of people with Down syndrome confirming they are happy with themselves, their lives, and who they are.

Another study found similar results. Parents reported that they had a more positive outlook on life after having a child with Down syndrome.

And thanks to advances in medicine, as well as early intervention services, not only has the life span of people with Down syndrome drastically improved, but their quality of life has as well. People with Down syndrome work, live on their own, get married, and have children.

Down syndrome is not "objectively shi**y from a health perspective," as Ridgway put it.

The Pro-Life Reply to: "Babies with Disabilities Are Better Off Aborted"

Why It Matters:

Though there has never been a better time to have a child with Down syndrome, attitudes like Ridgway's persist. Abortion rates due to Down syndrome vary by country — lower than 90% in the United States, but near-universal in countries like Iceland.

This increase in death by abortion is the result of the rise in prenatal testing and the misuse of that testing, as new research from Dr. Brian Skotko revealed:

As countries made prenatal screening more available and financially covered by their governments, we modeled the impact on the 'reduction percentage' for DS — that is, the percentage of fetuses with DS that were not born as a consequence of selective terminations ... [i]f a country were to expand the availability or reimbursement of prenatal screening for DS, while all other factors are constant, that country should also expect to have fewer live births with DS as a consequence.

What makes it all the more disturbing is that prenatal testing is a valid and pro-life tool, which should be used to allow families to medically and emotionally prepare for a child who has a diagnosis. Instead, it has been hijacked by a pro-abortion and eugenic mindset to kill anyone deemed "defective" or "unfit." Even more disturbingly, it is not always the parents' fault; the way a diagnosis is delivered can have devastating consequences, with some doctors even intentionally giving parents inaccurate, negative information in hopes of convincing them to abort, which could have happened in the Ridgways' case as their attitude appears to have shifted at some point between videos. When these babies are aborted, it is a violent, painful process.

Ashley Ridgway was likely about 20 weeks pregnant when she had the abortion, and the abortion procedure most often committed at that stage is a dilation and evacuation, or D&E, dismemberment abortion. This is usually a multi-day procedure, during which the abortionist uses forceps to tear the arms and legs off the baby, at a period in pregnancy in which the child can almost certainly feel pain.

The Ridgways' baby boy could have also died by an induction abortion, in which a drug was used to stop his heart before delivery, or he may have been born alive and denied medical care.

2nd Trimester Abortion | Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) | What Is Abortion?

It's also been found that parents, specifically mothers, who undergo an abortion due to a prenatal diagnosis "ultimately felt as if they were betraying themselves and their children." On the other hand, those who carried to term expressed feelings of closure and peace. The Journal of Clinical Ethics reported that 97.5% of parents who chose to carry to term rather than abort did not regret the decision. “Parents valued the baby as a part of their family and had opportunities to love, hold, meet, and cherish their child,” it explained.

According to Perinatal Hospice and Palliative Care, which provides resources for parents who are facing such a diagnosis, significant research shows that women who have an abortion following a diagnosis suffer “physical and emotional pain, with psychosocial and reproductive consequences.”

Commentary:

Following the announcement of the abortion, pro-lifers spoke up about the false idea that it is compassionate to kill innocent children via abortion.

"A disability should not mean a death sentence," said Live Action founder and president Lila Rose on X. "They showed video of this baby moving around in the womb, did a gender reveal, and it was a boy, and then all of a sudden, this post hits the internet, and they said, 'We chose termination.' .... This is the culture of death, my friends. This is why we fight to make abortion illegal. This is why we fight for life. This is why we fight to restore our medical establishment to stop recommending death for little children just because they have a disability. Every single life is precious. Every single life has value. This little boy deserved to live, and I pray that his parents can wake up and repent of what they did... that they can heal ultimately from this evil..."

Lila Rose

@LilaGraceRose

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This was a devastating story to see. Every life is precious. No child should receive the death penalty for having a disability. This is why we need to ban abortion. Rest in peace, sweet baby.

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2:24 AM · Jun 5, 2026

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Ridgway responded to pushback they received, saying, "I've never seen such hate and vitriol for two people grieving the loss of their unborn child and making an impossible decision." He added that he is "shocked" that their abortion was "suddenly newsworthy in 2026...? There are over 1,000,000 abortions every single year for a myriad of reasons, this is happening on a DAILY BASIS and is the most common outcome for Trisomy 21, yet this one blows up and people are surprised...? The reason this blew up is quite simple: IT'S BECAUSE NOBODY TALKS ABOUT IT."

First of all, Ridgway thought it was at least somewhat newsworthy, or he wouldn't have shared it. But he's not wrong; most Americans have their heads in the sand when it comes to abortion. They have no idea what is involved in the abortion process, even when they have undergone one or supported someone in having one. That's why, when the truth comes out about why abortions are happening and what it looks like to celebrate a baby's life one minute and then end that life by abortion the next, the darkness of the abortion industry and the culture of death are exposed and shocking. This little boy died because of the eugenic mindset that plagues society — the discriminatory, elitist belief that some people are not worthy of life.

Ridgway, however, also said they have received messages of support that make them "feel less alone in this and less ashamed." He added that they will "Try for a kid again in the near future," as if this child was a failure or a mistake. He wasn't. He was a gift.

The Bottom Line:

Ridgway's story is a public flaunting of eugenics and ableism, which would be disturbing enough on its own. Yet he is an online celebrity with massive reach and influence, who is promoting dangerous, inaccurate views to the masses. The reality is, people with Down syndrome do not lead miserable lives filled with suffering, and they are not better off dead.