Mothers are often advised to get a genetic test during pregnancy on their unborn baby. This occurs most commonly when family history or the mother’s own birth history suggests the baby she is carrying may be carrying a genetic disease.
The testing can prove helpful to some couples. If their preborn baby tests negative for a disease, they will have that knowledge. If the test comes back positive, then they can make preparations for care for the child upon birth.
That said, the benefits of genetic testing seem to pale in comparison to the risks associated with it.
To illustrate this, let us look at a common genetic test during pregnancy called amniocentesis. It is a diagnostic used primarily to identify babies with Down Syndrome or babies with neural tube defects, like spina bifida or anencephaly. The test can also be used to determine the baby’s gender, and has been used for the purposes of sex-selective abortions, sadly.
I will rely on, and largely relay the research conducted by Dr. David Reardon, which he lays out in his book, Aborted Women: Silent No More
With no further ado, here are seven reasons to pass on the chance to do genetic testing during pregnancy on your unborn baby, in spite of any pressure that may be coming from your doctor.
1. RISK OF MISCARRIAGE
Dr. Reardon found that mothers who undergo amniocentesis testing will spontaneously miscarry their baby 1.5% of the time.
Now consider how low the possibility is of a positive test for Down Syndrome: 1%. Thus, after having the test done, you are 50% more likely to lose your baby’s life than to learn he or she has Down Syndrome.
Is any test worth conducting that requires a possibility your baby might die as a direct result of it?
2. RISK OF PHYSICAL HARM FROM THE TEST
In order to do the test, a needle is inserted through the mother’s abdomen, into her uterus. Amniotic fluid is then drawn out to be analyzed. Dr. Reardon says although the test is guided by ultrasound, mistakes do happen.
One in fifty tests results in some sort of physical damage to the mother and/or the baby. Even if the child is not miscarried, he or she may suffer physical harm from the needle. As well, a tear in the mother’s uterus could happen, as well as infection.
Again, do the benefits outweigh the risks? It is hard to make that case.
Doctors who prescribe the test may claim to be helping parents prepare for the raising of the baby with a disability. In actuality, the doctors who order these tests are often the ones pressuring the mother or couple to abort their baby.
3. RISK OF AN INCONCLUSIVE TEST
Dr. Reardon quotes Dr. Hymie Gordon as stating a 5% likelihood stands that an amniocentesis test may be inconclusive. Dr. Gordon says this can occur, even if no other physical harm comes to the mother or to the baby.
The test may be indecisive due to a number of factors. Among these are an insufficient volume of fluid to test, or the fluid may be contaminated, likely with the mother’s blood.
In such cases, the test would need to be repeated, in order to determine if the baby may be carrying a genetic disease. This opens up the mother and her baby to the same risks, all over again.
Dr. Reardon points out that the test is conducted in the second trimester, between the 16th and 18th week of pregnancy, when the child is already moving in the womb. The test results do not come back for several weeks afterward. This means the diagnosis often arrives late in the pregnancy, in the third trimester. This gives the mother longer to bond with the child.
If she does opt to have her baby killed that late in the pregnancy, the effect often proves even worse for her afterward, psychologically and emotionally speaking.
One test is difficult enough. Imagine having to repeat it!
4. RISK OF A MISDIAGNOSIS
Dr. Gordon relays the amniocentesis test has a reported 0.6% rate of misdiagnosis.
That may not sound too high, but that is 6 in 1,000. If a positive test is the equivalent to a death sentence, is this something we need to impose on babies innocent of having a “dreaded” genetic disease?
What about couples who opt for the genetic test during pregnancy, knowing they will have their baby killed if the test is positive? If they do get a positive test, they will have to wonder for the rest of their lives if it was a false positive.
Besides, learning of challenges that lie ahead for you in parenthood just means you have more opportunities to trust in God to carry you through.
So what if your baby has a physical handicap? By faith you will overcome that small obstacle.
5. FACE IT, GENETIC TESTING IS A TOOL TO PUSH EUGENICS
The purpose of the amniocentesis test is to determine certain characteristics of the unborn baby. Aside from gender testing, the test determines if a baby carries certain genetic diseases.
Doctors who prescribe the test may claim to be helping parents prepare for the raising of the baby with a disability. In actuality, the doctors who order these tests are often the ones pressuring the mother or couple to abort their baby.
The doctor’s motivations for prescribing death to the unborn baby vary. Perhaps the doctor fears a wrongful birth lawsuit. Yes, such cases have been filed and won in court. Or, perhaps the doctor believes in eugenics.
Eugenics is the practice of ridding the gene supply of “undesirables.” People with disabilities are targeted and kept from reproducing. Babies with genetic diseases, mental retardation, physical handicaps, or other “undesirable” traits are often aborted. This is a heinous crime.
It is like a real-life game of Battleship. Seek and destroy.
Dr. Reardon reports 50-75% of the babies eugenically aborted were never carriers of the disease suspected. He says the reason so-called doctors and health officials find this statistic bearable is because, to them, killing off multiple healthy babies is worth exterminating one with a genetic disorder.
For a couple considering genetic testing, is this the belief system you belong to? If not, is this a practice you want to support by paying your money to? Are you looking forward to being pressured to abort your unborn baby?
6. SO WHAT IF YOUR BABY HAS A HANDICAP?
Learning your baby may be handicapped can be a scary time, but it need not be.
Once you hold your precious child in your arms, it won’t matter to you if he has a supposed defect. He is your flesh and blood.
Besides, learning of challenges that lie ahead for you in parenthood just means you have more opportunities to trust in God to carry you through.
So what if your baby has a physical handicap? By faith you will overcome that small obstacle.
7. ADOPTION IS ALWAYS AN OPTION
For mother or couples carrying a baby they do not intend to raise, adoption always remains an option.
If your baby might carry a genetic disease, this should not preclude him from ever being born. If you think you cannot raise him yourself, give him the gift of a loving family who can.
There are couples out there seeking to adopt children specifically with Down Syndrome or spina bifida, for instance. They can be found through the Spina Bifida Foundation, for example.
IN CLOSING
With a mere 1% possibility of a positive test, is the amniocentesis test worth all this risk?
A better question would be, do you want to contribute to a society that values human lives solely by their physical appearance and abilities? Or, should the world be forced to accept and value your child, no matter what he supposedly cannot do?
YOUR TURN
Please, share your thoughts below on genetic test during pregnancy.
If you have been counseled to get your unborn baby tested, especially with the amniocentesis test, I would like to hear from you.
