Prenatal Diagnosis - Pros And Cons To Consider

Every parent waits with nervous anticipation to see if his or her child will be born healthy. The wait, in many cases is over with the advent of advanced prenatal diagnosis and testing. Genetic screening now allows parents to find out before birth if their child will have certain genetic disorders.

Testing screens for a wide range of disorders and diseases and consist of two common tests, amniocentesis which is performed at 15 to 19 weeks gestation and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) which is performed at 11 to 12 weeks. The CVS procedure involves testing the cells from the maturing placentas. Taking a sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby and testing it is what happens with the amniocentesis procedure.

The decision to have these test is not straightforward, although the testing process is fairly clear-cut. For many, there are many pros and cons that must be weight before making a decision. Here are a few of the most common pros and cons of prenatal screening:

Pros:

• Having foreknowledge of any problems can allow parents to prepare for caring for the child.

• Advanced early knowledge may lead the parent to terminate the pregnancy. should they choose.

• In case any emergency treatment should be needed, parents would be at an advantage by having advanced knowledge of certain disorders.

• Parents will have time to find any specialists that may be needed with the information of any disorders prior to birth.

• Genetic testing may identify a problem that can be rectified before birth.

• Doctors will have the advantage of being able to choose a delivery method that will minimize the risks to both the infant and mother with testing.

Cons:

• CVS and amniocentesis carry some risk of miscarriage.

• Testing is not as precise as many parents believe them to be. Even for the problems that have been specifically tested, there is no guarantee that they don't exist.

• Tests may indicate a problem where none exist or may not detect a problem, giving false security.

• Not all diseases or disorders are covered by testing. Many diseases have numerous complex forms that cannot all be covered in a generalized test.

• The tests raise issues with limited and uncertain safeguards against insurance discrimination.

Prenatal diagnosis and testing, while routine, is a complex issue and a matter of debate among parents and members of the disability community. It involves deeply felt beliefs toward abortion, the beginning of life, faith, fate, disability, social responsibility and quality of life issues. The decision it ultimately up to the parents even though the decision to test or not to test is not an easy one to make.

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