Children born with incurable illnesses

As a women, I believe that our greatest fear is not the pain of giving birth but the fear of miscarriage or having a child with abnormalities. It is always heartbreaking when we see children suffering from illness, especially those who does not have the means to undergo treatment for their illnesses. I have always ponder if I should bear children. Why not I just adopt which will save me the misery and fear of child bearing? Furthermore, our world is already over populated and there are so many less fortunate children who needs our help. 

Then I stumbled into this book below which has shed some light into my dark hole. Lol

"Some children are born with incurable illnesses.  It is a difficult, heartbreaking situation for any parent to face this kind of karma. But everyone possesses the noble life-state of Buddhahood and born with a valuable mission. 

One mother's third daughter was born with Down syndrome.  The doctors also told her that the child had two holes in her heart.  Surgery could solve the heart problem,  but she would have to live with Down syndrome for the rest of her life.

Regardless,  the mother showered her new baby with love,  firmly believing that her child was born with an important mission in life.  Her eldest daughter,  a sixth grader,  and her second-eldest daughter,  a second grader,  also loved and cared for their new baby sister.  When their baby sister smiled,  the two sisters broke into smiles,  too.  The mother thought our new baby girl has already brought her two sisters together this way she clearly was born with a wonderful mission!"  When the baby girl made sounds or turned over in her crib or played with a toy,  everyone in the family applauded happily The second eldest daughter wrote in a composition for school: "Just seeing how hard my little sister is trying,  I feel encouraged and she's taught me that I should never give up..I'm very proud of her. No matter what happens,  as her big sister I'll protect and take care of her all my life.

The eldest daughter also wrote in a school composition. "I'm so proud to have this angelic sister who has overcome surgery and brings such joy to everyone in our family. Some children die of illness soon after being born.  But life is eternal. Encountering the Mystic Law in this existence dramatically opens the way to transforming our karma.  In a way,  it could be said that such children were born with the mission to awaken their parents and other family members.  The karmic relation of being born together as parent and child is immeasurably profound.  It is an inseparable bond.  The death of a child can lead to a deepening of faith and an expansion of life state on the part of the parent, a process that in itself could be considered as an aspect of that child's mission."

Quoted from the book Ode to Mothers by Daisaku Ikeda