Posted on 11/10/2005 11:42:40 AM PST by WmShirerAdmirer
Earlier Diagnosis Allows More Time for Decisions
A first-trimester screening test can reliably identify fetuses likely to be born with Down syndrome, providing expectant women with that information much earlier in a pregnancy than current testing allows, according to a major study being released today.
The eagerly awaited study of more than 38,000 U.S. women -- the largest ever conducted -- found that the screening method, which combines a blood test with an ultrasound exam, can pinpoint many fetuses with the common genetic disorder 11 weeks after conception. That allows women to decide sooner whether to undergo the riskier follow-up testing needed to confirm the diagnosis.
"This is a big deal for women. It's going to have a big impact on care for women, not just in the United States but throughout the world," said Fergal D. Malone of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, who led the study published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Screening women before the second trimester allows those who might opt to terminate a pregnancy to make that decision when doctors say an abortion is safer and less traumatic. It also gives those who want to continue the pregnancy more time to prepare emotionally for their child's condition, and provides earlier reassurance to those whose babies are healthy, avoiding weeks of anxiety, Malone and others said.
"This is huge," said Catherine Y. Spong of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which funded the $15 million eight-year study.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which issues influential recommendations for prenatal screening, will update its advice to reflect the findings, officials said.
Word of the study triggered criticism from opponents of abortion, however, as well as from those who object to its use to prevent...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The test is a good idea. Not so people can abort a baby, but they have time to prepare for what is ahead.
I posted my response as sarcasm.
Yes. It's call "institutionalization"
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Of course they have that option. Many don't want to bother doing that either...too much "guilt"
When my husband was a teacher's aide there was a boy in another class who had spina bifida. The kid was always popping wheelies in his wheelchair, playing basketball, and scaring some of the teachers because was so daring. He was also incredibly popular. I was on the bus a few years later when I saw him sitting on the bus in his wheelchair. It took me a moment or two to realize it was him, since he had a few girls hanging all over him. When I told my husband about it, he said it didn't surprise him.
For many people, their children with Down Syndrome the light of their lives.
Many people with Down Syndrome live full, rich, happy lives.
YOu said, "Many Irish consider Downs' people the closest thing to perfection, as they have no malice in their hearts." That is so simply beautiful that I wanted to repeat it.
It's probably best to make sure of it then - Although having children sometimes softens even the toughest critic of how all other parents do things - which you seem to be fond of doing from a few other posts I've seen.
I refused the screenings as well - The nurses really had a hard time with "it just doesn't matter, I'll take what I get and with deal with anything that comes up"
She's perfect in everyway that a now two year can be - *wondering how long the NO NO NO NO - thing lasts again?*
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When the same is true for homosexuality the democrats will cease to exist and fall to in-fighting between the gay and feminist factions.
For what? My wife and I had a Down Syndrome baby named Maximilian Theodore, who turned out to be just that; "most excellent gift of God". (It was only tough for a little while because we were ignorant of what Down Syndrome is. He was born on Valentine's day, 1986, and that right there should have been a clue of God's message to us.) But the greatest gifts come in surprise packages. He was such a beautiful, gentle, spiritual child and such a blessing to us and to everyone around him, that I cannot describe it in words. Whoever said on this thread that these people do not have any malice in them is right. Read Dale Evans' book, Angel Unaware if you want to know what Max was like. I read that book as a child, never dreaming I would someday have the same privilege of knowing such a person.
Max died suddenly and unexpectedly on October 6, 1988 at the age of 2 1/2. Rare is a day that goes by that I don't think of him and miss him, and look forward to meeting him again.
They don't make a "test" for such experience.
Cordially,
Thanks. Your posts make me see things differently.
>>God Blesses us with very special gifts. We must be adult enough to recognize that God has entrusted us with them. One person with DS teaches us more than a million liberals put together.<<
One person with DS certainly is kinder and in my experience, more pleasant than a million liberal.
I'm not kidding!
Are you Irish?
My curiosity was aroused because the poster seemed to imply that this trait was predominantly an Irish one and I was trying to ascertain if this was so and, if so, the reason for it.
KERPOW.... that's the post of the day!
You mean like the terrorists?
I can't tell whether or not you're being sarcastic. I certainly didn't mean to offend you. However, I would like you to understand that you did imply in your post #9 that you would have killed my son had he belonged to you.
We are all waiting with bated breath for the news that medical science can discover the "gay gene" at 11 weeks so that women can decide whether they wish to abort. I'll bet that wouldn't get too much fanfare....
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