When I was pregnant (the first time at age 32; the second at 34), my doctors asked me if I wanted any prenatal genetic testing. They assured me that I was very low risk, but asked if I would consider terminating if the results showedsome sort of genetic issue.
Both times, I was appalled that they had the nerve to even ask if I would do such a thing. No matter what, I would love the child I was carrying. I was resolute that I would never terminate, so why would I test? I declined the offer.
It sounds naïve now. Thankfully, both girls were born healthy without incident.
But now, I'm 39 and if I were pregnant, I would definitely consider genetic testing -- not because I would love my baby any less but because I'm older. The difference between 33 and 39, doesn't feel very different. Hell, I still feel 25. But my body has lived the life span of a teenager since then. Yes, I’m in good health and yes, my pregnancies were easy and without incident but there is a higher risk now that my eggs are older too.
If I were pregnant with a child who would be born with a genetic disorder, it could mean that I would have to be her caregiver for her entire life. Would I be alive long enough to be sure that I could commit to that? This is an important thing to consider. It’s not just about what I want anymore.
If I were to have a beautiful child who was going to be born with a genetic disorder that would incur an exorbitant cost of medical treatment with no cure, could I afford the cost? Could I provide everything that this child would need or want from me, financially? Am I strong enough to be there emotionally? Could I be the mother this special child deserved and needed?
How would this affect my other children? I would have to consider how having a child with a genetic disorder such as Down Syndrome or Trisomy 18 would effect the care, time and mothering that I could give my other two children? How would it affect my marriage?
Did you have genetic testing done when you were pregnant? Why or why not?
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Comments 37
I am only 23 and I would do genetic testing if I ever got pregnant again because both of my kids have a genetic disorder and I would want to know so I could prepare how it would change my children's life and all the added preparations I would need to go through if I were to have another child with this genetic disorder.
My husband and I talked about what we would want to so. I'm 27 and pregnant, and we decided that since we were low risk for all the things they test for, and have no family history, and it wouldn't change the fact that we would keep the baby, we decided not to do any testing. If we had any risks or maybe if I was older, I would have considered it, just to know and prepare myself and my family.
I didn't test and am pregnant at 29. I felt a lot of pressure to get the tests done even though I have no family history and am below 35. I was actually really annoyed by the assumption that I would just get all that stuff done. Maybe it's just the pregnant hormones, but I'm still irritated by it. My husband thinks it's worth getting done if older children have genetic abnormalities because it's unfair to everyone. It would be really hard to abort though. There would always be the thought that a mistake was made during the procedures.
I wouldn't be offended that they asked. I think it's a doctor's medical duty to give you information about the testing available to you and the reason for the testing. My doctor's way of saying it was to describe the testing itself and to say "These are not problems we can fix, this is information for you to know so you can make decisions about your pregnancy." I was not offended by that.
I did choose to have the prescreening done, just because I felt that knowledge is power and it would help me to be more prepared. It only made sense to know if there was some complicating factor that could affect my child's health or my own health. Luckily all my screens were within normal levels and we never had to make a choice about more invasive testing with higher risks that a blood screen and u/s.
I did with my first, even though I was super low risk, just because I could. This one, I declined, because I'm still really low risk, and old enough to know that it wouldn't change anything. Anything life threatening would have been caught on scans anyway. There was no reason.