Prenatal Screening Advances Create Agonizing Choices

Doctors may detect disease but struggle for details

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 25, 2008 7:18 AM CDT

(Newser) – Advances in prenatal screening have given parents-to-be a clearer window into the health of their unborn children—and the dramatic increase in information can lead to wrenching choices. Tests are now able to detect many genetic disorders—but they are not always reliable, or able to predict specific outcomes, the Wall Street Journal reports. That can lead to awful dilemmas for parents deciding whether to continue a pregnancy.

The Journal tells the story of a couple who were told that their unborn son had a rare genetic condition that could kill him before he was a year old. The father and doctors encouraged termination, but the mother, a Catholic who regretted an earlier abortion, argued that the diagnosis could be wrong. The baby is now 20 months old, and his new geneticist has confirmed the mother’s belief. But the child's health is precarious, he is significantly disabled, and the burden on the family has been overwhelming.

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (2)]

Prenatal ultrasound and genetic screening are giving parents agonizing choices, and increasingly medicalizing pregnancy.

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Prenatal genetic screening allows parents to take on the role of gene police, and to erect a roadblock at which they search and examine their children-to-be before birth. - Evelyne Schuster, medical ethicist

Prenatal diagnoses are subject to the interpretation of the person doing the ultrasound. There are cases where things are missed or misinterpreted. - Dr. Helga Toriello

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Kids Have Been Short on Sleep for 100 Years

At least if official recommendations are any guide

(NEWSER) - If doctors' recommendations are accurate, then kids have been sleep-deprived for more than a century. Researchers reviewed dozens of sets of sleep guidelines dating from 1897 to 2009 and compared them to data on how much sleep kids actually have gotten over the years. They found that kids have consistently slept about 37 minutes less than experts suggested, the Wall Street Journal reports. They also discovered that the recommended amount shrunk by about 0.71 minutes each year. More»

Induced Labor Lets Dying Dad See Baby

Texas man with colon cancer wept holding child

(NEWSER) - A Texas man with only a few days left to live held his newborn baby daughter for the first time—because his wife had her labor induced two weeks early, the AP reports. Holding tiny Savannah in a hospital bed, Mark Aulger "cried, and he just looked very sad," says wife Diane. He sleepily held her a couple more times during the week, then died five days later, leaving Diane to raise their three children and two teenagers of her own. More»

Meet Chun Chun, China's Biggest Baby?

He weighed 15.5 pounds at birth

(NEWSER) - Chun Chun is less than a week old, but it looks like he's already a record-holder in China. He weighed 15.5 pounds at birth, with local media in central Henan province speculating that he's the biggest newborn in the nation's history, reports the Times of India . He and mom are doing well after the C-section. Even if Chun Chun officially takes the honor in China, he falls short of the Guinness record: A woman in Ohio gave birth to a 23.7-pound boy in 1879. Click for more , including video of the baby. More»

To Curb Obesity, Give Babies Finger Food

Don't feed them pureed meals: study

(NEWSER) - Babies may face a lower risk of obesity if they feed themselves finger food when they're first learning to eat solids, a study suggests. Researchers found that babies who were spoon-fed pureed food developed more of a propensity for sweets than did their finger-fed counterparts; the kids who munched finger food, in a process known as "baby-led weaning," showed more interest in carbs like pasta and rice, AFP reports. More»

Why French Parents Are Better

Pamela Druckerman: They teach their kids patience

(NEWSER) - Tiger Mom showed us why Chinese parents were better, and now Pamela Druckerman is making a case for the French. Short version: The grownups are in charge, and they don't cater to their kids' every whim. They teach their children patience and tend not to wind up with spoiled brats. French parents "have managed to be involved with their families without becoming obsessive," writes Druckerman, an American raising three children in France. (Yes, there's a book: Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting.) More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Prenatal Screening Advances Create Agonizing Choices