The end of Down syndrome

Then should we be highly skeptical about the sincerity of the pro-life movement?

 

We had a scare with this with my youngest, but the final test was fine, and he's now 23.

I can't say definitively what would have happened if the test had come back the other way. I'm pro-choice, and my ex-wife certainly is, but when it's your own child, it obviously becomes a less abstract moral/political issue in a hurry.

 

When people are faced with these kinds of personal, private decisions, yes.

Look, Sarah Palin (not to throw this off the rails) admitted to considering an abortion when she learned of her son's diagnosis.

My brother and his wife -- who have all healthy kids -- never go the test, because abortion wasn't an option for them.

But, let's be honest, not getting the test also spares you from having to consider it too.

 

So it's kind of like the, "What if your own family got murdered?" death penalty question.

 

Yep.

 

YF, I'm not really sure how they're doing, to be honest.

But on the testing, not only are the blood tests getting better but so are the more invasive tests like CVS and amnio. And CVS and amnio can look at all the chromosomes, screening a whole host of diseases, not just Down.

 

I'm in my early 30's, so my husband and I chose not to test for Down when we found out we were pregnant (almost a year ago!). The test (as previously mentioned) is risky and expensive. However, I recall the doctor asking us if this is a test we were interested in undergoing. I looked at my husband, he looked back at me, and we had no clue how to answer. The doctor said, "Let me put it this way, would you choose to terminate the pregnancy if the baby tested positive?" I think we both replied "No" at the same time.

Looking back, I think I would respond the same. Although, having a baby with just a little colic is emotionally consuming. I can't imagine struggling with something like Down Syndrome every day for the rest of our lives. Heartbreaking.

 

The odds go down, by a staggering degree, once you cross the barrier of age 40. I knew there was an increase, but I had no idea just how pronounced that increase was, and how specific it is to the age rather than to a general age range. Incidents of Down Syndrome by age of mother:

34: 1 in 500
35: 1 in 385
36: 1 in 294
37: 1 in 227
38: 1 in 175
39: 1 in 137
40: 1 in 106
41: 1 in 82
42: 1 in 64
43: 1 in 50

The risk of any chrosomal deformity follows a similar path, from 1 in 238 at age 34 to 1 in 33 at age 43.

So the evaluations made by people in their 20s, or even into their mid-to-late 30s, are quite different from those made by older couples. An amnio for a younger couple doesn't make sense if only because the risk of triggering labor is mathematically greater than what you're going to find anyway.

 

Not unless you are having couples check off a box whether they are pro-life or not when they go in for the test or even when it is confirmed they are pregnant to begin with then you can gain some real stats from it. I'm guessing most pro-lifers don't get the test because it won't influence their decision to carry to term or not. Some may get it just to be prepared which is more than admirable, but I'm pretty sure it's not even a question for some in their minds whether they would keep or abort, so to that degree getting the test done would be redundant.

 

I know many won't agree with me because they think it's apples and oranges but everyone, rightfully so, has expressed outrage over what happened to the Second Mike kids. At the same time, many people choose to emiminate pregnancies that might inconvenience us in some way. I just don't get it.

 

Because people don't believe that a fetus is a child yet.

What's not to get?

 

You're right. That's not apples and oranges. It's apples and porcupines.