The parents of a child with Down’s syndrome decided to get a chromosome tattooed on their hands – so they have an extra one just like their son.
Chip and Laura Franks, from Texas, US, said they wanted to match their son Alec and have a permanent reminder of their “sweet boy”.
The pair, who share posts about Alec’s journey on the Facebook page ‘Amazing Alec’, said neither of them have any other tattoos, but this one just felt right.
“Honestly we didn’t even know we’d get them, but it was a day of serendipity and it felt right to do it,” they wrote on Facebook. “We want to be reminded of our sweet boy―and if anyone asks, we’ll have a way to talk about the blessing that is Down’s syndrome. It seemed like an act of love for him and our family.”
The couple said it was their daughter Mandy’s idea to get the tattoos, but she wasn’t quite ready to get hers yet.
Mandy shared a photo of her parents getting inked on Twitter, writing: “My parents got extra chromosomes for my brother and I’m here for it.”
After her tweet attracted more than 116,000 likes and 14,000 retweets, she answered some queries about how the chromosome looked: “Yes, I know this isn’t an accurate representation of the 21st chromosome that’s involved with DS, [but] this is what most people recognise as a chromosome, and it’s made to be a symbol of love for my brother, not a scientific report.”
Mandy also shared a comical video of her brother reacting to his parents getting the tattoos. She asked him if he liked it, to which he promptly replied: “No.”
You can follow updates about Alec and his family on their Facebook page here.