YouTuber Jesse Ridgway has defended his and his wife Ashley’s decision to terminate a pregnancy after discovering the baby was likely to have Down syndrome.
“When you’re a first-time parent or just starting a family in general, you don’t know until you’re actually put in that situation. You’re just always trying to make the best decision for your child and your life,” the content creator exclusively told Page Six on Friday.
Jesse, known online as McGugger Nuggets, explained that at first he felt “relieved” at the thought that his child would get the disease. This disease occurs when an individual has a complete or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.
“I was okay with that. I can love my kids no matter what, and we’ll make it work,” he recalled thinking.
But the more the couple researched, the more they realized the challenges they might face.
“When I started facing statistic after statistic and realized that I would most likely have to bury my son, that wasn’t what I wanted to sign up for,” Jesse explained.
“I want my children to live longer than me and be fully functional and have a good life.”
Jesse noted that many people with Down syndrome require 24/7 care, often battling health issues such as heart defects and other illnesses, and needing to be “in and out of surgeries.”
“It’s starting to get really bad, and it just didn’t make any sense to us,” he continued. “I hope people relate to that.”
According to Jesse, the hardest part was accepting the fact that he and Ashley were already preparing for the birth of their baby.
“We had been imagining what our lives would be like for months,” he said. “Please prepare the nursery. Ashley has already bought clothes. We are thinking of what we can do.”
After sharing their heartbreaking decision, the couple faced intense public criticism, including death threats.
“I’ve been in this universe for so long that I’m used to the public eye, but I’m just trying to be as strong as I can for Ashley, because she’s carrying such a huge burden,” he said, adding that coming forward “exposed a troubling side of humanity.”
Jesse explained that he and Ashley “love” and “cherish” life.
“I have a lot of fans with Down syndrome who cheerlead and support them, and I’m tired of people twisting that and making it into different things,” he said.
Ashley was “distraught” after losing her child, but ultimately decided to share her journey with the public in the hopes of helping others going through the same pain.
“She wanted this to be representative of other women who are going through this,” Jessie explained. “And I hope that if anyone is wondering what to do, at least they’ll see our story and feel comfortable talking about it more.”
“It’s a very delicate conversation,” he added.
As for how Jesse and Ashley are coping, Jesse said, “It’s been a tough two weeks.”
“There’s going to be a little bit of a breakdown, but honestly, it might be hourly at this point,” he said. “We’re just trying to process that this happened.”
Jesse, who has been vlogging for 20 years, said he made the “difficult” decision to terminate the pregnancy after learning that his and Ashley’s baby could be born with trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome.
“This choice was not made lightly,” he said at the time. “We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley.”
They documented their pregnancy with their social media followers and shared that they were due to give birth in March. The next month, they announced that their baby had a 95% chance of being born with Down syndrome.
Jesse and Ashley, who married in October 2025, plan to have children someday.
“We will be able to start trying again within a month, month and a half at the earliest,” he said Friday. “We’re looking forward to it.”
