Pre-natal testing, what's 'kosher'?

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Happy2bcatholic

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Hello,

Well we are finally pregnant and loving it. So many of people are saying we should test for this and that and others are like don’t get any tests oh but you should test for maybe this one thing. SOme of these tests come with a risk of miscarriage. We definitely want to avoid that. But we were wondering if there are catholic guidelines what is an acceptable test and what’s not for a catholic. Thank you.

Note: A lot of tests I’ve been told give false positives, especially since I am at an advanced maternal age and once you get a positive result (false or true) you’ll receive all kinds of pressure to abort - which we would never do. So in a way its like why bother but anyway we’re only 11 wks along and would like to get some response to this topic. We would only want to know results if and only if the problem is something that can be altered during pregnancy - otherwise we don’t want to know, we don’t want the stress of knowing. Thank you.
 
find an ob you really like and trust, and follow her medical advice. Make your wishes and opinions known up front-natural childbirth, breastfeeding, abortion is not an option etc., make sure your preferences will be respected. You are paying for professional advice and guidance so take it.
 
My DH and I faced a lot of pressure to have all the current tests being used at the teaching hospital where we planned to have our baby.

We came up with a rule: if the test can reveal something for which we were at risk (given our advanced age and genetic history) that might require special life support equipment at the birth or could reveal something that could be best corrected by in utero surgery, we’d have the test. If the test could only reveal something that couldn’t be helped in that way, but might prove a temptation to worry – or worse, abort – we decided not to test. As a result, I only had non-invasive tests like ultra sound, and resisted the temptation (and pressure) to have CVS or Amnio – which do carry a risk of miscarriage.
 
so long as a test does not equal a death scentence. you wont abort anyway so that is irrelevant.

and if a test is risky for the kid, and not crucial, i wouldn’t take the risk.
 
Thank you all for your thoughtful and comforting responses.
 
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