What to Know
Awaiting the birth of a baby can be such an exciting time, but this influencer couple didn’t get to have that experience after they received some devastating news about their unborn baby. On Wednesday, YouTuber Jesse Ridgway, who is known online as McJuggerNuggets, revealed that he and his wife Ashley had terminated their pregnancy after learning that their baby had been diagnosed with Down syndrome. Unsurprisingly, people feel very passionately about this news — some so passionately that the Ridgways have said they’re receiving a lot of hate.
Jesse shared the heartbreaking news on social media on June 3.
In a lengthy post that Jesse shared on both Instagram and X, he said that he and his wife had decided to terminate their pregnancy after finding out that their unborn baby had Trisomy 21, caused by an extra chromosome.
“I know some of you may be very disappointed to hear this news. We are devastated,” Jesse wrote. “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.”
He went on to say that he was “shocked but optimistic” about raising this child when he first found out the news, but then, he learned more about Down syndrome.
He called it a ‘difficult decision.’
After finding out more about the health complications that people with Down syndrome often face — like heart issues, problems with the digestive and immune system, and even higher risks of leukemia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Mayo Clinic — Jesse and Ashley decided not to proceed with the pregnancy.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
“As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family,” he added. “Thankfully, we had a choice. It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome.”
His announcement has sparked quite a bit of passionate discourse.
If you can't handle a disabled child, don't have any children. Someone can become disabled at ANY point with worse things like a TBI.
— Mayor of Utopia (@mayorofutopia_) June 4, 2026
You killed a baby, a healthy baby, for your convenience.
While some people have shared their support for Jesse and Ashley in their decision, others are outraged, with some even calling the termination of their pregnancy “eugenics” in action.
“Absolutely horrible, the fact you thought it acceptable to even share this is weird. You are a monster,” one user on X replied to Jesse’s post.
Another wrote, “I feel so bad for your child who you killed. He or she didn’t deserve death because they would have had a more challenging life than others. Death was not a cure.”
Jesse said he is receiving a lot of hate.
I’ve never seen such hate and vitriol for two people grieving the loss of their unborn child and making an impossible decision.
— Jesse Ridgway (@McJuggerNuggets) June 5, 2026
The last 24 hours have exposed a side of humanity that is deeply disturbing. Being called “murderous pieces of shit, evil, compared to Hitler” and…
On Thursday, Jesse returned to X to shut down the “hate and vitriol” he said that he and his wife have been getting since sharing their news publicly.
“I can’t blame people for not talking about these vulnerable experiences publicly because you see the disgusting backlash that ensues,” he wrote. “It’s very divisive. Luckily, after 20 years on the Internet, this is par the course for me taking on the crazies, so I’m glad I can help further the conversation.”
Of course, everyone has their own opinions about the situation, but at its core, two hopeful parents are now grieving the healthy baby they were looking forward to meeting just weeks ago. This has to be an incredibly difficult time for them both, and there’s no doubt that receiving nonstop hate for a choice they clearly never wanted to make is only making a bad moment in their lives worse.
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