People magazine on Palin

They're respectful:

Sarah Palin was devastated and shocked when she learned that the baby she was carrying had Down syndrome, PEOPLE reports in its latest cover story, about the freshly minted Republican vice-presidential candidate.

Palin, who was then 43 and 13 weeks pregnant , is a staunch opponent of abortion. She kept the news to herself until husband Todd returned from a business trip three days later. "The good news is we have a boy," she tearfully told him. "But we have a challenge."

Todd's response, she tells PEOPLE: "Awesome! I'm getting another boy."

Initially Palin hid her pregnancy – and her pain – from both the public and her children, son Track, now 19, and daughters Bristol, 17, Willow, 14, and Piper, 7.

"Not knowing in my own heart if I was going to be ready to embrace a child with special needs," she reveals, "I couldn't talk about it."