[wagglebee]

The Globe and Mail quotes Steve Scherer, a senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and study co-author, “The genome is like an accordion that can stretch or shrink . . . so you have no idea what's normal.”

Yet genetic screening by eugenicists grows more common.

[wagglebee]

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[wagglebee]

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The Culture of Death is doing tests that Hitler only dreamed of.

[pinkpanther111]

Mt. Sinai recommends genetic counselling for “couples who already have a child with mental retardation, an inherited disorder or a birth defect… (and) women over the age of 35 who are pregnant or planning to be.” This age group has a significantly higher, although still very low percentage chance of conceiving a child with Down syndrome.

At age 35 the chance of conceiving a Downs child is estimated to be 1 in 400 or one-quarter of one percent of conceptions. At age 40 it becomes 1 percent and for conceptions over age 45 the overall average increases to 4 percent. However, 75 percent of all babies with Down syndrome are born to women under 35.

Mt Sinai says, “When a birth defect is diagnosed, genetic counsellors provide emotional support during what can be a very difficult time. If there are decisions to be made about the pregnancy…. the parents can make more informed choices with the facts in hand.”

_______________________________________________

I refused this test when I was pregnant. Decisions about the pregnancy... In otherwords get an abortion.

[Myrddin]

Mt Sinai says, “When a birth defect is diagnosed, genetic counsellors provide emotional support during what can be a very difficult time. If there are decisions to be made about the pregnancy…. the parents can make more informed choices with the facts in hand.”

Informed choices? My first son arrived with heart problems and ADD. When my wife was pregnant with #2 son, the doctor professing to be a "genetic counselor" and expert in his field recommended aborting the pregnancy. #2 son arrived in perfect health. He graduated high school with a 4.33 GPA, put himself though college to earn a BS in Business Administration, earned a CA real estate broker's license, employs 26 people and still serves his country as a USMC reserve. The "genetic expert" was an obvious quack. I say that with a bit of authority as a molecular biologist/genetics engineer. I shudder to think how many perfectly normal children have been sucked into a sink based on his ignorant advice.

[metmom]

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[speekinout]

A friend's grandson was diagnosed as Down's syndrome in utero. The parents spent months discussing how they would deal with their Down's son. Wasted time. He's 5 now, and a real delight. He's perfect.
Thank God that he had parents who were willing to take whatever they were given.

[I still care]

I know of at least 2 children that the doctors said would be abnormal, and applied a lot of pressure to abort. Both were perfect.

I also know of a child who the doctors said would be terribly abnormal, and really pushed the Mom to abort. She defied them, and delivered a child that while not physically perfect, is a delight to all that know her. She is active in our church and we love her dearly.

It's an evil culture that does not recognize the special sacred worth of each person.

[Scotswife]

It was recommended to my sister that she have an abortion based on results from the screening.
She went into labor 1 month earlier than expected and gave birth to a full term baby.
As it turned out - they got her due date wrong - which skewed the testing results.

Thank goodness she didn't listen to them.

[metmom]

I was offered alpha fetal protein testing to check for birth defects. I asked if that was the test that gave false positives so that only 1:80 was anything MIGHT be a legitimate concern but still didn't necessarily mean that anything was wrong (like twins would give a false positive). The nurse practitioner (the ob's wife) said, "Yes", so I said, "No, because even if there was something wrong, abortion was not an option." She stopped what she was writing, looked me in the eye, and said, "I wish more people felt that way." (They had at least six kids themselves). There's good ones out there.

[Yaelle]

Every young couple starting to have a family should be told this. The genetic tests might only let you know your child is a carrier of something. Ultrasounds saying your child has a defect that is "incompatible with life" are sometimes WRONG. Every baby deserves to begin life, if G-d sends him here.

I have seen too many cases where a doctor wants to abort for silly reasons. Here are two from my SMALL circle of friends. One normal pregnancy was recommended aborted because the mother had a bone tumor that turned out to be benign. While true that she would have had to spend her pregnancy in some chronic pain and on crutches, her baby would have been born healthy. She aborted the baby on doctor's recommendation, in a fit of fear about her own mortality and the tumor.

The other mother needs your prayers today. She is a religious Christian mommy in the hospital tonight because in her uterus with her little baby girl (25 weeks along) is a subchorionic bleed (like a clot of blood keeping her bleeding), and very little amniotic fluid. We are all praying she makes it until the baby's lungs are developed enough to survive outside the womb. She now has a Christian doctor. The previous one told her she should abort.

This goes on ALL the time. People are told "Your baby will never live, never be normal, etc." I guess the doctors have to perform "CYA," but so many of those babies go on to become happy little children.

[dead]

Each summer, for the last 26 years, I've worked at a camp for handicapped children. When I started there in 1981, the camper population was probably about 85% Down Syndrome.

Now, that number is probably below 10%. The vast majority of the kids are autistic these days.

They don't make Downs Syndrome kids like they used to. They barely make them at all.

[cgk]

I think I'll print this article out and bring it to my next OB visit. I've had to explain to 3 doctors and 1 nurse why I don't want prenatal screening for the "normal reasons", but would be happy to if they deem it medically necessary so those in the delivery room have everything they need to care for the new baby when it arrives.

The perinatal specialist doctor and one nurse reacted like this: "GOOD FOR YOU!" The other doctor seemed to act like I was less than well-informed when he asked for further explanation and I told him just where I stand. Good thing he was on rotation and not my 'real' doctor :)

[cgk]

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[Old_Mil]

This age group has a significantly higher, although still very low percentage chance of conceiving a child with Down syndrome.

At age 35 the chance of conceiving a Downs child is estimated to be 1 in 400 or one-quarter of one percent of conceptions. At age 40 it becomes 1 percent and for conceptions over age 45 the overall average increases to 4 percent. However, 75 percent of all babies with Down syndrome are born to women under 35.

This author lost me with this head in the sand, PC way of dealing with the Down's statistics (let's not say anything that would offend women who have delayed childbearing till after 35!). By switching from "1 in" to percentages, he massages the statistics in a way to downplay their significance. Furthermore, the statement that 75% of all babies with downs are born to women under 35 is true, but disingenuous since pregnance above 35 is still a relatively rare thing.

The numbers based on maternal age (without the PC)... @ age 25, 1 in 1100 @ age 35, 1 in 350 @ age 45, 1 in 25

[G Larry]

Yup!

Try this real life example on for size:

Couple told their baby would have downs syndrome.
Husband wanted abortion.
Wife said "No Way!".
Baby born perfectly normal.

How's Dad doing, knowing every time he looks at his beautiful, perfect daughter, that he wanted to kill her?...

[cpforlife.org]

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[Southack]

"Yet genetic screening by eugenicists grows more common."

It only seems to bother the Left when they are told that the mom is aborting a child because he has the "gay gene."

...not that there really is such a gene, but then again, these genetic tests aren't accurate enough to make very informed decisions, anyway.

[Mr. Silverback]

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[nickcarraway]

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[Muzzle_em]

I have several aquaintances who are retired and/or active millitary and use Tri-Care. In various discussions, ALL of them have mentioned that during at least one pregnancy, a genetic test came back having an "abnormal marker" and that they were PUSHED for genetic counseling. One was even threatened with a termination of maternity benefits if they didn't meet with a genetic counselor. BTW, all of these people have healthy babies.