Actress Sally Phillips stunned by mum’s abortion story during UEL visit

Bridget Jones star Sally Phillips was stunned during a visit to the University of East London when she heard how a woman was given 15 minutes to decide whether to abort one of her unborn twins at risk of Down’s syndrome.

Claire Watts, 47, told the actress of her pregnancy scare when a scan showed one of her twins had unusually high levels of Nuchal fluid, an early sign of Down’s syndrome.

In front of a group of medical students, Mrs Watts was asked if she would like to terminate the twin at risk.

Mrs Watts turned down the abortion and Alfie and Alice, now 12, both attend mainstream schools.

Alfie uses the university’s Rix Centre, which specialises in communiciation technolgy for people with learning difficulties and where Sally visited during her tour.

She echoed the experiences of Mrs Watts and told of the joy that her son Olly, who also has Down’s syndrome, has brought her.