Prenatal Downs Syndrome Testing: Have you or would you have it done?

[LilyM]

I’ll say that having all the equipment to hand during the birth isn’t nearly good enough. DS, of course, begins to affect the child well before the birth. Knowing that the child has DS, there is (or should be) extra monitoring throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, which monitoring can presumably pick up problems that can be treated or at least kept an eye on while in utero, just as they can be with spina bifida children.

Those problems, it stands to reason, might be missed, leading to needless death in utero and/or miscarriage, without the knowledge that the child has DS. This would be regardless of what arrangements are in place for the actual birth, which would be too late in some cases.

And as other posters have pointed out - it’s also an issue of being prepared for the specific types of care the child will need after birth. Special arrangements have to be made, arrangements which cost money and take time to put into place. Which money you have more time to raise, which time you can better allow for, if you know in advance that they will be needed. And one has to be mentally prepared as well.

All around, the foreknowledge will enable the parents to ‘hit the ground running’, so to speak, and ensure that the child has all the available care that informed parents can offer - at all times, not just after a few weeks or months of adjustment, which adjustment could and should have occured BEFORE the birth if possible (all other things being equal).

As for kay cee, with the greatest respect to your doctor, they dont’ always get it right. I come from a family full of them, including both parents. My father, bless his cotton socks, in spite of his medical expertise, got a wound on his foot that became infected and he simply wouldn’t, for quite a while, take antibiotics for it, and it got quite bad. Thank God mum took over and practically forced them down his throat.

I share that story to illustrate that doctors, great as they may be (and my father IS an excellent doctor), are human and fallible. In your case I possibly would’ve sought a second opinion about the advisability of an amnio, being such an important issue. I certainly know better than to take everything that doctors say as gospel in any event.

 

[wynnejj]

A lady in my Pro-Life group was diagnosed as having a downs syndrome pregnancy. She opted to have the baby and, it turned out to be normal.

 

[LilyM]

A lady in my Pro-Life group was diagnosed as having a downs syndrome pregnancy. She opted to have the baby and, it turned out to be normal.

Better than being wrongly diagnosed with cancer

I shudder to think of all the poor babies though, who have been needlessly aborted as a result of false positive tests for DS and other genetic abnormalities. And all the poor parents who have needlessly done aborted for the same reason

:crying:

 

[elts1956]

A lady in my Pro-Life group was diagnosed as having a downs syndrome pregnancy. She opted to have the baby and, it turned out to be normal.

Same thing happened with our Nephew and his wife. They were told it was a strong possiblility the child would have Downs Syndrome. They opted to have her, in fact never considered abortion. The baby was born normal. THEY NAMED HER FAITH. Isn’t that beautiful?

 

[wynnejj]

Same thing happened with our Nephew and his wife. They were told it was a strong possiblility the child would have Downs Syndrome. They opted to have her, in fact never considered abortion. The baby was born normal. THEY NAMED HER FAITH. Isn’t that beautiful?

Yes, beautiful name, beautiful story.

Just a thought about having a child with down syndrome…
Although having a down syndrome child often implies a family responsibility well into adulthood, it doesn’t mean that a down syndrome child cannot make a real contribution to society.

I remember watching a show about a restaurant which was staffed entirely by down syndrome teens & adults. People came to that restaurant from miles around because it was GOOD, not out of charity according to the report!!!