The new ethical controversy?
 

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/...nclick_check=1

I have thought about this before as a huge ethical problem if I ever decide to have children and I'm sure many of you guys having children or planning on it have thought about this as well. Not an issue I really like discussing but it is important for every parent to think about so here we go...

Just like abortion, this deals with the idea of choice and life but in a different flavor. How ethical is it to be able to screen for disabilities like Down Syndrome and parent's reactions to them?

For some parents it's too much to think about and so they terminate the child. At least, that's the option over here.

I don't think it'd be an option for me and my husband. In fact, we spoke about this very subject just this weekend gone knowing that we're trying to fall pregnant, but getting older and are more likely to have birth defects in a child, the older we get.

I think it's up to the parents to decide though, and most couples that go through these types of procedures are most likely to consider all the eventualities.

I watched friend of the family go through some awful times with their handicapped daughter.

She is 40 something now, with the mind of a 5 year old and some of the things she does to her elderly parents is horrific.

They were nearly 40 when they had her, she beats them up regularly and they have a hell of a time discipling her.

I have a close girlfriend who has a young child with down syndrome and he is the most gorgeous little boy....everyone just loves him completely.

They are members of a small community and we will go to school with kids that have known him since he was born and cherish him for the beautiful little boy he is....would this be different in a huge school? I dont know.

I believe it is the right of the parents to have all the tests they can afford.

A lot of doctors will recommend the tests to mothers who's worrying is getting out of control and not beneficial to a healthy pregnancy.

It can also be seriously traumatic to have something like this thrust upon you at birth, rather than having months to come to terms with it.

I would prefer pregnant couples have all the information at hand and be able to make informed decisions that is best for them, whether that be to terminate or mentally prepare themselves for the journey they will be embarking.

Science is at our disposal.
Modern medicine must be used.
Now I don't know about aborting retarded fetuses or whatever but I just think that the more advanced medicine becomes the more obligated we are to use it to better mankind. Already we are living longer, healthier lives. It's in due course, in my opinion.

What a controversial opinion!

Survival of the fittest?

I think abortion should, as a rule, always be legal. That means I have no problem with abortion being legal for parents who want to prevent their Downs fetuses from being born. But it makes me a little queasy.

A friend of mine had a baby/fetus that she aborted because it had a serious birth defect. One that would cause the baby, if born, to have a short and painful life that might last as long as a month or two in the hospital. It was a gut wrenching decision for her, but I think she did the right thing. I have no problem with that at all.

So I support and even encourage having an abortion when the fetus has a serious birth defect like the one above.

Downs is tougher. To make it personal, I've got a mentally retarded cousin, and while she has been quite a burden at times for her family, she is living on her own now, and leads a good and productive life. She's a great person. I'd be horrified at the thought of killing her.

To me, though, abortion isn't killing a person. It's more like erasing the life that could have been. It's hard to image what life would be like for me and my extended family if my cousin had never been in it. Maybe it would be a better life for us, maybe it would be worse. Who are we to even be making that choice? Well, this gets into religious beliefs and the morals/ethics of each family. So I'm going to cop out and say that it's really up to the parents. And I'm OK with that.

I agree with glatt. The other thing you have to remember is, specifically with Down's Syndrome, there is no foolproof test before birth. They measure the thickness of the skull with ultrasounds, and the thicker the skull, the more likely Down's is. But they can't know for sure until they do a genetic test after the baby is born. A friend of mine was told her baby had a 90% chance of having Down's, and they chose not to abort. Her daughter turned out fine, with absolutely no mental defects. There are many other diseases, however, where they can know for sure.

Well, there is amniocentesis, but it's a little risky, and it's never done routinely because of that risk. Around 1% of fetuses are killed by the procedure.

I don't think screening prenatally for disease (or curing it, removing it) could be looked at as a bad thing under any context (except maybe religious). I don't see it any different from a more traditional immunization. I think the reason this fellow thought it's not something he wanted to get rid of, is that this is what he's used to. Making his son healthy would mean making him a different person, and he obviously loves the person his son is.

is that good?


But back to the issue. A close friend of mine and his wife were told after all the tests that their daughter would be born with Down's. He discussed abortion, how hard life would be, etc. Their daughter is now 7 and absolutely healthy. no defects whatsoever.

For some reason I thought an amnio couldn't be used for Down's testing, but a quick Google search shows I'm clearly wrong. What I don't get is how the test could be wrong, as in lookout's anecdote. Either the extra chromosome is there or it isn't... LabRat? Any clues?

Any tests accuracy is affected by how much of a stoner the lab tech is (my mom worked at a physician services lab for a while, told me some stories...) but in also in this case maybe it's mosaic down's?

sorry, i can't offer any clarification. i'm sure they were told more details but the story goes that they were cautioned about the complications of raising a child with Down's but they chose to go forward anyway. She is a perfectly normal kid. annoying if you ask me, but i guess that makes her normal.:p

Another thing to consider is that there are levels of disability within each syndrome. Some people with Down's syndrome reach the point where they are able to cope with, and interpret, the world with the competancy of a young adult . Others are more severely disabled and will require more in terms of care. If a child is always going to require full time care, the parents are not necessarily able to guarantee that: or at least, they may not be able to guarantee loving care.