Central State Hospital, Milledgeville State Hospital, the largest institution in the world at one point The first sections of Chapter 5 addressed the very basics of what Down syndrome is and why it is called what it is. The next sections will cover the common factors associated with Down syndrome, beginning with intellectual disability. Continue Reading

The villain Syndrome from The Incredibles The previous part of the serialized book on prenatal testing and Down syndrome addressed the first part of the name for the condition my daughter and hundreds of thousands others have. This post examines why that condition is still referred to as a "syndrome." Continue Reading

John Langdon Down Down Syndrome? Down's syndrome? Is Mongoloidism still used? Trisomy 21? Which is it? Well, this part of the Book attempts to answer why the condition my daughter is called "Down syndrome". Continue Reading

A karyotype of the conditions Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and Double-X (female) In the second part of the chapter on Down syndrome, I begin with the simple question: What is Down syndrome? Continue Reading

Juliet at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 2018 At long last, on a blog titled "Down syndrome prenatal testing" where a book on Down syndrome and prenatal testing is being serialized, after three chapters, we arrive at my exposition on Down syndrome! Continue Reading

Graph from Skotko et al. study on elimination rate in the United States We have reached the final section of Chapter 3's exposition on Down syndrome selective abortion. The previous section ended with the Natoli study finding the termination rate in the United States was less than the historically reported 90%. However, with the standard of care changed such that all women are to be offered prenatal genetic testing, it is having counterintuitive effects. Continue Reading

In this penultimate section of Chapter 3, I discuss how the termination rate following a prenatal diagnosis for Down syndrome has been revised down from 90% to around 75%. And, how that counterintuitively means there are more pregnancies positive for Down syndrome being aborted than when the termination rate was 90%. Continue Reading

Conferences I presented at from 2008-2011 (Blue Dot in the Atlantic was the '09 World Down Syndrome Conference in Dublin, Ireland) Part 4 of Chapter 3 of the book covers the professional guidelines mandating practitioners counsel women about abortion following a positive prenatal diagnosis for Down syndrome; the "Gradual Trap" of how prenatal testing is administered; and, the pushback on the 90% termination rate following prenatal diagnosis by individual physicians at presentations I gave. Continue Reading