Reações da notícia do diagnóstico da síndrome de Down na percepção paterna

The birth of a child is part of a family's life cycle. Since its conception, the child is already the result of a series of expectations. The aim of this research was to describe and analyze the reactions of parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) to the news of the diagnosis of the syndrome and the support received for the care of the child. The design of this research was a mixed approach of a descriptive nature. It was used for data collection: a semi-structured interview script with paternal characterization. Participated in the research 10 parents (men) of children diagnosed with DS in the age group from 0 to 6 years old. The contact with the parents took place through an Institute for the coexistence of people with DS in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Data collection with parents took place on the premises of the Institute or at the residence of the participants themselves. Content analysis was performed with the categorization of qualitative data from the interviews. The results showed that in terms of how the news of DS was given, most parents received the news after the child's birth. Regarding changes in the way they received the news, two parents reported that it could be different, doctors could be more subtle. For support for care, it is noted that part of the parents received personal and financial support for the care of their children. The study showed that the moment of news needs to be reassessed by professionals, and that interventions should focus on children and families.