In just 22 weeks, Jesse and Ashley Ridgway moved from celebrating the gift of new life to ending the life of their unborn child. The YouTube influencers, with over 4.3 million followers, publicly chronicled nearly every step of the pregnancy on social media — posts that will endure as a permanent record of their journey.
On March 29, “baby Ridgway” was announced to be arriving in the fall of 2026. By April 8, Jesse and Ashley had their “first look at the little nugget.” Jesse had his followers do a poll guessing the gender on April 14—61% guessed it would be a little boy. Then on April 22, they announced that their baby had a high chance of having Trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome.
On May 27, they announced the results of the amniocentesis (prenatal diagnostic test). By June 3, the baby had been aborted. Ashley was reportedly about 4 months into her pregnancy. When Jesse publicly detailed their decision, he explicitly said it was due to the baby’s potential disability.
Shock, grief, threats
The announcement provoked widespread shock, and among many, grief. Pro-life leaders and countless other voices lamented the abortion, with many arguing that every unborn child — regardless of diagnosis — possesses inherent dignity and the right to life. Some urged convictional yet compassionate opposition to abortion. The couple has also received numerous death threats and hate mail since the announcement, Jesse said.
“Every second is a new death threat towards me and my wife,” he told People Magazine. “I’ve been making content for 20 years, so we’ve seen hate before. But not to this degree.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Sarah Holliday and originally published by Decision Magazine. This article was contributed to by The Baptist Paper. Used with permission.
