What’s In a Number?

Some people, like a certain washed-up, no-longer-licensed-to-practice OB, like to throw around a big number, THE big number... 92%. That’s right 92% of women with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome abort their babies. That’s some majority.

Only 8% of women who know they are carrying a baby with Down syndrome choose not to terminate.

But that number, 8%, really isn’t an accurate representation of the percentage of women who are open to the idea of giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome. You see there are a whole bunch of women that decline various types of testing because test results indicating Ds will not alter their plans to have their baby.

I was one of them and I know of many others.

We can assume that if by some fluke they had been prenatally diagnosed, the majority of them would have chosen to continue their pregnancies. These women should be counted as knowingly, willingly, perhaps even welcomingly (made that one up) choosing to give birth to a child with Ds rather than abort it.

If these women were counted what would that do to the 92% number? Would it drop to 90, 85, 80, or even lower? There’s only one way to find out... Ladies, stand up and be counted.

Take the Poll
Over in the right column is a poll question that asks...If (and only if) you had an after delivery diagnosis of Down syndrome, please indicate the level of prenatal testing you received during your pregnancy. (If you had non-invasive testing and followed up with the CVS or an amnio that returned incorrect results, please select the CVS/amnio option). Also, an ultrasound, while a nice view of the baby, only counts as a test if you did the 20-week 3D check-for-Ds ultrasound or any other 3D ultrasound that was specifically performed to look for Ds markers.

Written by ds.mama