8mm
Posted on 01/01/2007 5:45:43 AM PST by shrinkermd
There's a big change coming for pregnant women: Down syndrome testing no longer hinges on whether they're older or younger than 35. This week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists begins recommending that every pregnant woman, regardless of age, be offered a choice of tests for this common birth defect.
The main reason: Tests far less invasive than the long-used amniocentesis are now widely available, some that can tell in the first trimester the risk of a fetus having Down syndrome or other chromosomal defects.
It's a change that promises to decrease unnecessary amnios - giving mothers-to-be peace of mind without the ordeal - while also detecting Down syndrome in moms who otherwise would have gone unchecked.
The new guideline is published in the January issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
About one in 800 babies has Down syndrome, a condition where having an extra chromosome causes mental retardation, a characteristic broad, flat face and small head and, often, serious heart defects.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
ping
All about promoting abortions
my thought exactly
Someday, soon, the mother to be will be tested for her ability to deliver "perfect" children. What an advancement to be able to know before you go and marry someone that they're liable to produce defectives./s
I asked what the odds of miscarrying were vs having a DS baby. I was told 1 in 200 that I'd miscarry, 1 in 600 that I'd have a DS baby.
I said, "do the math". I would have had the baby regardless, so it really didn't make sense.
It will just drive up health insurance costs even more.
I refused any testing also, it would have made no difference, my babies were my babies regardless. When I told my OB/GYN no, he smiled and said he was happy I made that choice.
Although they will piously pronounce this is about "choice" and about letting families "prepare"...in reality we all know it is to promote abortion.
The attitude that down's syndrome children should be aborted in the womb because they would do not enjoy a quality of life- absolutely false for anyone who has seen a family loving their downs child.... it is this attitude that is handicapped, not the children born different.
Ahhhh yes, the eugenics approach to developing a nice perfect Arya...oops, I mean HUMAN race.
I have very close friends who have a little 3 year old boy who was born with a chromosomal defect, you would never know it now except that the child had motor skill issues for the first 2 years of life, now he's running around like any little kid, but you can bet that under this regimen (and the future regimens that will surely follow), that my friends would have been 'urged' to abort that little boy, because after all, there were signs that the baby might have 'problems', hmmm?
how very Gattaca.(good movie btw)
Pete Singer disciple
Perish the thought! It's about, uhm...helping parents prepare for their special child's needs. Yeah, that's it! It's all about preparation!
</sarcasm>
I am very early into the book but one thing scared the dickens out of me.
One of the characters was suing a University because they were using his genes to develope a line of stem cells without his permission.
He was told to forget it, because the state could take his cells by right of eminent domain.
This is good news to an end. Our first child was prounounced as high risk for Down's syndrome. My wife refused a further, invasive procedure that presented a risk to the child. The Doctor didn't insist, but said refusing the test was a bad idea. Our child was born premature due to my wife going into labor at 5 months after being rear ended by some @sshole in a corvette. We held off the labor just long enough for him to have lungs, by the grace of God.
As it is, he's only had 1 B grade (1 term of 4 for one class averaging A for the year) and the rest straight A's since he started school. In short, he's brilliant.
My point is that these tests are often wrong and present a risk to the child as a fetus. People are correct to have doubts. For those it will make a difference too in order to prepare for Down's syndrome, there is significant advantage in having more reliable, less invasive testing available. More people will pursue testing if there's less threat presented to the health of the preborn child.
Perfection-or-death "peace-of-mind" Ping.
Thanks for the ping! Will act on it.
8mm
There is a legitimate, non-abortion, reason to do this sort of prenatal testing, and it is beneficial to both the baby and the parents. If you learn that you are going to have a sick baby, as an expecting parent, you may prepare for the different needs this baby will have. ONe example would be to find a pediatrician who has a practice specializing in or at least familiar with whatever your new child's disability is.
The benefits do need to be measured against the risk of miscarriage, of curse, but it is not all about abortion.
My youngest daughter, while in high school, babysat for a family with a Down Syndrome child. The extraordinary gift of love that she saw in this child inspired her to choose her college path for a career teaching Down Syndrome children.
This is just one more step in the process. Next will be that mothers who refuse to abort defective babies will be called selfish. In the next step after that, they will be called criminal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.