Down Syndrome: New Test Could Mean The End To Down Syndrome Pregnancies

healthland.time.com:

What if new tests for Down syndrome could one day mean no more affected babies are born?

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Comments

[john456]

04:13 PM on 01/17/2011

To me the challenge and fear is not raising a Down Syndrome child, but having to leave your Down Syndrome Adult to fend for himself. Also I have seen and met many Down Syndrome individuals and the degree of disability seems to vary widely. Do some of these tests "predict" the degree of disability?

[Bike Commuter]

02:26 PM on 01/14/2011

This topic always bothers me. I do support people being allowed to make their own decisions regarding abortion, but this always gets to me. I have trouble seeing it as a good reason.
 
I only know a handful of people with Down Syndrome, but those few are the sweetest people I have ever met. A couple of them hold down jobs and seem to get by ok. One is a 3 year old who is so sweet that I can't imagine a world without her in it. Add to that a 95% accurate test means a 5% chance of aborting a healthy child.
 
I realize there is likely much I don't know about the condition, including challenges of raising a child with DS. I try not to judge the choice.
 
It just gets to me.

[playsindirt]

04:09 PM on 01/16/2011

I know what you mean. I'm pro-choice but then I wonder what's next - will we eventually test for everything and abort all children that aren't genetically perfect? I have an autistic son and a deaf son and can't imagine my world without them. I'm glad I was never presented with the choice.

[SeeTheFnords]

01:59 PM on 01/14/2011

IMHO, the years and dollars spent developing this testing protocol could have been better spent. Yes, it is good to be able to diagnose one genetic anomaly in a growing fetus, and reducing the number of amniocentesis procedures done. But, amnio is done to diagnose many more problems as well.

Trisomy-21 is only one of several problems that children of "older" women are at higher risk for - most of which are far more devastating than Down Syndrome.

In the end, it is the parents' decision whether to get tested or not, and what to do with the information gleaned from those tests.

[VanessaFas]

12:41 AM on 01/14/2011

The current test is only 70-80% accurate, and those with positive results are practically ordered, bullied even, to terminate their pregnancies. We were urged, repeatedly, during my last pregnancy, to have the test, and to abort if it was positive. We refused, and for two reasons. One, the test is only 70-80% accurate, so you are convincing parents to abort non-Down children, on the grounds they most likely will be born with Down Syndrome. And two, Down or not, I love my child, and would not want to abort them. But back to reason one. My sister-in-law revealed to us her and my brother's heartbreaking decision to keep the baby they were told had Down Syndrome. They yelled at the doctor who delivered the results. They said they were good Catholics, and would love and raise a baby regardless of health or deformity. Then they had the baby. And he was non-Down. And they tell everyone who is expecting this story, as they were being urged to throw away my nephew, with bad test results, with the wrong information. I'm so glad they stood up to these so-called accurate test results. I can't imagine our lives without J.

[Patricia Poteau Mellen]

05:08 PM on 01/15/2011

Same thing happened to my sister after an alpha-fetoprotein test revealed that her child had a high likelihood of Down Syndrome. The doctor wanted to follow with amnio, but she refused because of the danger to the fetus. She went through the rest of her pregnancy in fear, with migraines and panic attacks. My nephew was born completely normal.

[VanessaFas]

09:28 PM on 01/17/2011

Thank God we have smart sisters, right? I can't even stomach the alternative. Or think about all those women who accepted their test results as accurate, and proceeded with recommended abortions.

[Vermilionphoenix]

09:16 PM on 01/13/2011

Knowing a baby I was carrying had down syndrome wouldn't make me want to terminate the pregnancy. I don't think I could abort a fetus simply because it has down syndrome. People I know with children or have DS are not suffering, in my opinion.

In college I used to ride my bike to school everyday. On my route, every morning waiting for the 7:45am bus was a young gentleman with down syndrome dressed in his Carl's Jr uniform. He would smile and say "good morning' everytime I rode buy (I of course, would return the greeting). No matter how stressed, sad, or overwhelmed I was, he always brought a smile to may face. In fact, recounting that memory of him brought a smile to my face just now.

From what I see, life is challenging with DS, but it's a life still worth living.

[singermuse]

06:27 PM on 01/13/2011

I don't see this as a bad thing. The more we have access to information the more we can make informed decisions as women and potential mothers. A previous comment said that 95% of downs syndrome fetuses are aborted currently, so all this new test would do is make the gathering of data safer for the woman. It is also true that some women, given this information would still opt to carry the fetus to term. So this new test will change little.

[greylox]

04:14 PM on 01/13/2011

**There are plenty of people who would have that baby regardless.

[GreenEyedGuru]

03:58 PM on 01/13/2011

95% of Down Syndrome babies are already aborted today. It's not even a stigma, our neighbor (who is merely an acquaintance) had no problem telling us that she had aborted her baby after it was diagnosed via amniocentesis.

I doubt this new testing procedure will make a difference in the number of Down Syndrome babies born, but hopefully it will allow expectant mothers to avoid the dangerous amniocentesis procedure.