New Target Add Features Child With Down Syndrome

Many ethnic groups do not always receive equal time when it comes to advertising. Furthermore, individuals with disabilities are seen even less. Now, a new Target advertisement is hoping to change that. It features a two-year-old girl from Minneapolis who has Down syndrome.

Izzy Bradley is "...completely fun. She has lots of energy. She's sweet. She loves her big sisters. Wants to be just like them," said her mother Heather Bradley, via WCCO.

According to the MTV News, Target reached out to the Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network to request snapshots for potential models. They selected Izzy in September as one of their new models.

The money from the photo shoot will be placed in a bank account for Izzy that she can reach when she's grown up a bit.

"I really appreciate Target's policy of including them in their ads," Bradley told WCCO. "I think it really normalizes Down syndrome and helps people to see we're really just like any other family.

"I really just hope that if a new mom, or an expectant mom, were to see a little girl in an ad that they would just have that sense of hope for their child, and that they would know really there's a great future for them," he added. .

Statistics show that one in every 691 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome, making the health issue the most common genetic condition in the country. As it stands, about 400,000 Americans have Down syndrome, while close to 6,000 babies with Down syndrome are born in the United States every year.

Where the nucleus of each cell typically contains 23 pairs of chromosomes--half that are inherited from each parent--those with Down syndrome occur when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).