11-Month-Old Boy With Down Syndrome Signs Modeling Contract

A model mum has signed up her 11-month-old son who has down syndrome with her agent after noticing his love for the camera.

Amanda Booth 26, a first time mom from Los Angeles, has been modeling for the past 10 years and her son Micah Quinones, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome when he was three-months-old happens to share her love of the camera. She said: As soon as the camera comes out, he looks right into it, everyone says to [Micah]: “You’re just like your mother.”

 Amanda recalled that a few hours after she had given birth the staff pediatrician ‘blurted out’ that she suspected Micah had Down syndrome and suggested they do a blood test and echocardiogram. because his heart looked great and there was no ‘immediate “concern”‘, Amanda and Mike held off on having their newborn’s blood tested.

 ‘The only exterior markers that she saw that caused concern were almond-shaped eyes which my husband has and folded ears, which could have also been a result of growth restrictions that he faced,’ she explained. At three months old, we decided to test again per our pediatrician’s recommendation to “rule it out”.’

Last month, Amanda explained to Mothermag.com that she and her husband didn’t know that Micah had Down syndrome when she was pregnant because they chose not to do any prenatal testing.

 ‘The results wouldn’t have changed anything, so why bother with the stress,’ she explained. ‘During the 20 week ultrasound, a lot of measurements are taken for various “tests” routinely, and they didn’t indicate anything was out of the norm. She noted: ‘Many babies with Down syndrome have heart defects, and we were very fortunate that Micah was not born with any heart abnormalities, again, resulting in no suspicion in utero.’

 When Micah was finally diagnosed, Amanda said she was worried about all the ‘scary possibilities’ her baby might face, but added that with every day that goes by, she thinks about it less and less. Our little man is so freaking incredible, I literally forget that he has [Down syndrome],’ she said. I don’t think about it, worry about it, or track his progress. We just live our lives and he is our son. Maybe there will come a day that it’s more “apparent”, but for now, that’s us.’

 While Amanda wouldn’t describe herself as being gorgeous, she can now say with confidence that people who told her she and her husband Mike Quinones would make beautiful babies were absolutely right. ‘I felt like when we [she and her husband] got married, there was all this weird pressure on us to have kids,’ she recalled.  People would always say things like, “you two have to have kids, they’ll be so gorgeous” and I was like “who are these crazy people?” But I guess they were right.’

Amanda is a successful model who has appeared in five network commercials over the past few years, recently shooting a Lancome commercial with Julia Roberts.

 ‘My name is Micah, I’m a Leo, and enjoy long bubble baths,’ reads the tot’s profile description.

While Amanda’s account features family photos and her work, Micah can be seen taking baths, swimming, and hanging out with his parents.

And at 11-months-old, he already has nearly 7,000 followers of his own.

 Down syndrome occurs when someone has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21 and can be diagnosed when the child is still in utero.

 Source: Daily Mail