Narrative ethics: the power of story in prenatal testing for Down syndrome

This week has brought a confluence of evidence to me showing the power of story in delivering a Down syndrome diagnosis. Continue Reading

Your MaterniT21 test is NEVER positive

And it's NEVER negative, either. Continue Reading

We shouldn’t have to justify children with Down syndrome being born

Rachel Adams, the author of Raising Henry, has a piece in the new issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A. You should read it and its lines should be inscribed in offices around the world.  Continue Reading

Today Baby Doe Died

Today was the day in 1982 when Baby Doe died in a maternity ward in a hospital in Indiana. He died because his doctor advised his parents that they could "do nothing." Continue Reading

Physicians: too many doing Down syndrome prenatal testing wrong

A study of parents of children with Down syndrome reports on their experiences with finding out the diagnosis. It finds that too many physicians still are doing it wrong. Continue Reading

People with Down syndrome are not costs to be avoided through prenatal testing

I shouldn't even have to say this. Continue Reading

Prenatal testing for Down syndrome: does it respect a woman’s right to choose?

Prenatal testing for Down syndrome is ethically premised on respecting a woman's autonomy, her right to choose how to manage her pregnancy. Is that right to choose being respected if the woman does not know she had prenatal testing or does not understand the results? Continue Reading

3 things about 3/18, National Trisomy 18 Awareness Day

Today is National Trisomy 18 Awareness Day, so chosen as "3/18" represents the genetic cause of Trisomy 18, a third copy of the 18th Chromosome. Here are three things about Trisomy 18. Continue Reading

What is the clinical utility of Down syndrome prenatal testing?

Yesterday's post on the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's statement saying noninvasive prenatal screening isn't ready for the general population left out a significant sentence. It raises the question: what is the clinical utility of Down syndrome prenatal testing? Continue Reading