Thursday, April 7, 2011
Testing for Disabilities
With today's technology, the option is available for women to have their fetus tested for different disabilities during the early stages of pregnancy. As discussed in Article 1, testing can be done on the mother's blood or on cells from the placenta to detect a variety of different disabilities. Many women choose to have this testing done and, as the article states, logically decide to have an abortion if the child has a disability. The article raises the issue that there can be false positives to a test or false negatives, meaning that some children aborted would have otherwise been healthy and some children born will be born with a disability. Some women refused to have an abortion and continued to receive pressure from their doctors to abort the baby. Article 2 discusses one man's perspective on testing for disabilities. He states that testing is not always accurate, especially people who test for autism. Testing does not account for disabilities that are not proven to be genetic such as Autism. He argues that tests should not be done because not all disabilities will show through the tests. I doubt that anyone in this class would choose to have the testing to decide whether an abortion is appropriate or not. The question we pose is this: would you consider having the tests done to see if your child has a disability? Is it important to know whether or not the child will have a disability before the child is born? What is your opinion of testing for disabilities in a fetus during the first few months of pregnancy?
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I think this is a really hard topic, because a mother wants the best for her child. If that child happens to be born with a disability, they want to take every precaution necessary to ensure they receive the best medical care and treatment before they are even born. However, I personally feel that even if I knew my child was going to have a disability, and potentially a very hard life ahead of them, I would not choose to abort the baby. I think it is hard testing too because you do have those false positives. With that, there are innocent lives being aborted that could have been saved if testing was not done. I am a little on the edge as to whether or not I would want to receive the testing or not. I would want to do everything I could to protect the baby's health, but honestly, it wouldn't matter if they had a disability or not, because I would love them just the same. Also, there are disabilities that are not genetic, like the article says. With that, you might have the testing, and still end up with a child with a disability. So, in my opinion, testing does have its advantages, but it also can lead to errors, and it still is not certain if your child will have a disability or not.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I would decide to have testing on my baby is if there were absolutely no risk to the fetus. Since abortion is out of the question for me, whether I find out about a disability before or at birth does not make a huge difference. It would be beneficial to have time to prepare emotionally and mentally for a child with disabilities, but that benefit is not worth harming your child. I think it is so terrible how most doctors always seem to be advocating abortion to couples that find out their child has a disability. When my parents found out their baby had Down syndrome, all the doctor would talk about were abortion options and the related costs. My parents were really upset by the doctor's attitude. He was talking as if it is never worth it to have a child with a disability when you could abort them. My parents told him that abortion was not an option that they'd rather have information about the actual disability and health of their child. I'm sure in the future more and more disabilities will be able to be cured while in the womb. If this option were available to me with NO risk whatsoever, I would probably go through with the operation. I would want to give me child the most opportunities in life if the power were in my hands.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to testing during pregnancy I disagree. When my husband and I were give the option of having the tests to determine if our baby girl had a disability I immediately turned it down. If she did, it would not change my mind about the pregnancy. If it was confirmed positive then all I would do would worry the whole pregnancy which would not be healthy for me or her. I hate that the first article stated that most women who have the test want it done to determine if they need to abort the pregnancy or not. How cruel is that. It is basically sending the message that if someone ha s a disability they do not deserve a chance at life. Some may say that they want the test to know if something can be done to help the baby, but the disabilities that most of the tests test for cannot be prevents or altered. So why have the tests? Also the articles pointed out the really good point that some tests can be a false positive or false negative. So the lives of innocent children are being taken either way. Furthermore, I agree with the second article that we do not know enough regarding the cause of Autism in order to test prenatally for it. I was not even aware that they had developed a prenatal test for Autism. A child having a disability should not mean an automatic abortion, but I guess that it comes down to a moral issue and personal choice. I just hope that the women who choose to abort their child because of a disability truly understand what they are doing and carry some kind of guilt with them, even if that is a harsh wish.
ReplyDeleteI have thought a lot about this subject and I am still not exactly sure where I stand. I think that testing for disabilities can be a positive thing, but it can also be detrimental, depending on the situation.
ReplyDeleteTesting an unborn baby for disabilities can have certain benefits. IF a couple knows that their child may be born with disabilities it can give them time to prepare for the birth. For example, my neighbors have a little grandson with Down Syndrome. His parents found out before his birth that he would be born with this disability so they were able to prepare and study up about DS before little Frankie was born. In this case, I think that testing was a positive thing.
On the other hand, I do believe that testing for disabilities can be detrimental. Often a choice to abort is based strictly on the results of these tests. I think that this is morally wrong. If these tests were not done, the mother may chose to carry the baby full term. If, when the baby is born with disabilities, the mother can decide if she wants to put up the child for adoption. Adoption, in my opinion, is a much better option than abortion.
Overall, I think that I am a supporter of these tests unless it will hurt the baby or if the mom is going to abort based on the results.
I would never test to see my baby had a disability while still in womb and I'm sure that we all feel the same way because we all have a special love for the disabled. Frankly, I would love to have a disabled child later on in life and my fiancé and I have already started doing the research on the adoption costs-so I think I might be a little biased. And NO it's not important on whether or not to know if your child is disabled or not. Are you really going to love them less if they are? You shouldn't and if you would maybe you shouldn't have children. If you are born with a disabled child, yeah it's gonna be different, but not worse. You are just gonna learn a lot of things you never thought you would.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think this should never be done because although there are some positives that will come from it, overall it will do more harm than good and poor little children will die because of it.
I personally would never have my baby be tested in the womb. It shouldn't matter if the child will be born with disabilities. I would love the baby the same no matter what was wrong with them. I really don't think that it is very important to know before the baby is born if it has a disability. If you are pregnant that is the baby you are supposed to have. Looking on the other side it would be nice to prep and to know what kind of problems you would have to face.
ReplyDeleteOverall I would never even consider getting tested for this when I am pregnant. Whatever child Heavenly Father gives me is what I am suppose to have and it doesn't matter to me if they have disabilities or not.
I think that this topic is very difficult and it needs to be dealt with on a personal basis. I think in some cases it would be beneficial if the mother knew beforehand if her child had disabilities. It would give the mother time to prepare for what lies ahead. I do not think that if the mother does know that her child has disabilities that the baby should be aborted. If the only way to get rid of aborted babies because of possible disabilities I think the test should be done away with. I personally would not want to be tested beforehand to see if my child has disabilities. I want to make sure my child is safe and some of the testing procedures are just not worth it. It would not help me to know that my child was going to be born with disabilities. I am not going to love my child any less, and it would just make me fret and worry the whole pregnancy. So like I stated before I do believe that this is a very personal decision but I do not think that the technology should be used to abort children.
ReplyDeleteI think that testing for disabilities on the fetus is a personal decision. I, personally, would not chose to have these tests done because the costs seem to outweigh the benefits. This procedure is very invasive. Because of this, the risk of jeopardizing the baby's health is increased. Even if the fetus is not damaged, there is not a 100% guarantee that the tests performed were accurate. To me, the knowledge of any possible disabilities is not worth undergoing invasive and unreliable procedures. I, of'course, would not condemn someone who chooses differently.
ReplyDeleteMy aunt has a daughter with Down Syndrome, and she said that in order to get a completely accurate test, she would have had to had a test that could possibly harm the child and she was not willing to do that. She did not know of her child's disability until she was born.
ReplyDeleteAborting a disabled child (or a healthy child for that matter) is absolutely wrong, but taking a test isn't going to change a person's viewpoint on abortion or not. I think testing is a personal choice but to me it doesn't really look that good since it can harm the child and I don't think that knowing ahead of time if my child has a disability would help too much. Yes, I would be a little bit more prepared but its not worth it to me to risk my child or wife's health just to know something that I will already find out later.
As many people have already stated, it really is a case by case situation and a personal decision. I don't think I would ever choose to have a test done to see if my child had disabilities, especially if the test could harm the baby. However, in some cases, if the testing were not to have any negative consequences it may be beneficial for testing to be done so that you could more fully prepare for what lies ahead as a parent of a child with disability. I'm not saying that those who do test to see if their child has a disability would love their child less if they found out they did, I am simply saying that if no harm were to come to the baby some people might like to be aware of the situation beforehand. Like I said, I would not be tested because I wouldn't want to risk anything and in the long run a few extra months of knowing your child will have a disability wont really make a difference in the long run. And of course I don't agree with the testing if the sole purpose is whether or not to abort the baby if they have a disability.
ReplyDeleteThis is really tough, but overall, I think it is a personal decision. As for me, it is still a tough decision. We find out the gender of the baby before it is born in order to prepare for the birth of the baby. The clothes, bedding, and other gifts that come from family and friends. I think if it were a high risk, I would like my baby to be tested for disabilities. That way, my husband and I can prepare as best we can. However, if the test were to bring harm to the my baby, I of course would decline. On the other hand, whether the child has a disability or not, I am going to love it nonetheless, testing would just be something done in preparation.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely encourage my future and awesome wife to consider having these tests done to see if our child has a disability. I predict that we will be much more prepared and informed about what to expect the day that we are official parents to our newborn baby.
ReplyDeleteIt may be important to know whether the child has a disability or not, but I don't see it as required. Having a child with a disability is just one part of raising that child and just another additional part of living in this world. It's not the most major or important thing to happen to society. Similarly, it's not that important to know the child's eye or hair color, how tall they will grow to be, or sometimes what gender the baby will be. The decision to be responsible parents to whatever comes out of the womb should've been made long before when these tests potentially occur.
his is a very controversial subject and it is hard to discuss while being fair to everyone involved. I remember being in 8th grade and having this topic brought up in class. At first I thought it would be an AMAZING opportunity to have that technology available to do preventative tests for disabilities. However, as I have grown older, I have come to see that a baby is a baby. With disabilities or without, I will love that child and love it fully. For me, I don't think I would do any kind of testing, unless I was in that situation and felt very strongly to do so.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a mother wants what is best for her child. In this way, I can see how fetal surgeries to prevent physical deformities. etc... would be helpful. I think that it really is a personal decision made between the wife, husband, and Heavenly Father. I can't judge anyone for testing their children, and I can't judge anyone for not testing.
I ABSOLUTELY do not agree with aborting a fetus even (maybe even especially) if the test comes back positive for disabilities. I cannot imagine throwing away precious life like that. It astounds me.
First of all my child's safety is the most important thing to me. So if my having these test done could possible harm the child then no I would not have the test because I will still have the child and raise it to the best of my abilities. However, if the testing is not going to hurt my child then I might consider it. But only so that I can have options to see if I can improve my child's circumstances. Such as the surgeries that we talked about with Dr.Z. But over all having the test wont change my attitude towards my child but it might be able to help my child in some way which would make the tests worth it.
ReplyDeleteWhile I completely disagree on testing for fetal disabilities in order to decide whether or not the child should be given a chance to live, I do think that I would choose to have my child tested, once the pregnancy was far enough along and if the benefits outweighed the risks (such as if I were older and the chances of complications or disabilities was higher). If my child were to be born with complications that would require immediate medical assistance, I would want to know ahead of time in order to be mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared for my child. If the tests would be dangerous to the fetus though, I know I would want my baby no matter what challenges he or she came to earth with and testing would not be a necessary step for me.
ReplyDeleteFor me it would depend on the disability that is being checked for, how they are checking and why they are checking. I don't think it is necessary to test to see if your child will have an intellectual disability (I don't know that this is even possible), or something that will not affect they health. The only reason I would really want a test done is to check for CP, Spina Bifida and other disabilities in which there are preemptive procedures that can be done before birth that will improve the health of the child. I think we can all agree that we would want our child to be as health as possible and I would be willing to take a test that could possibly find a treat a disability and thus save a child's life. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't accept a child with disabilities or that I feel a child with disabilities needs to be "fixed". I'm only saying that if I had a child with Spina Bifida for example and because of this test they were able to close my child's spinal cord and give him a less painful and longer life I would want that test done.
ReplyDeleteI can see that both sides of the argument. I feel that the option should be available for Mothers that wish to know. I can see that some women would want time to mentally and physically prepare for having a child with a disability before the child is actually born. My Grandma used to say though, that she did not like it when women said "All I care is that my child is healthy and happy" because she always said, "well what if the child isn't healthy?" I can see that in terms of the actual birth it might be safer to know if the child has a disabiltiy. But I personally feel
ReplyDeleteand agree that firstly, some disabilties cannot be accurately tested for so there are too many false negatives, also I feel that if it were me I would not want to have the fetus tested because at least if you find out the baby has a disability once it is born, than you can see the joy and the happiness that the child brings you, and I would have hoped that these feelings would help to balance out the shock and sadness of finding out about a disability. Whereas if the baby was not yet born, there is less to try and balance out those feelings and I think that in my opinion... I would feel guilty.
I know that I personally would never test to see if my child would be born with a disability. I know that I will love my child no matter what, and I do not want to possibly harm them while in the womb just to see if they will have a disability. I think that it is one hundred percent wrong to test to see if your baby will have a disability, and then if they do to abort them. Those are precious children children of our Heavenly Father who have every right to come to earth and receive a body. It does not matter if that body is imperfect, because you know what we all are. I feel that the testing of fetus, is wrong not only because it could lead people to abortion, but also because it is not a guaranteed science there is a way that the sweet unborn baby may be injured. Abortion is wrong, it doesn't matter what the reason is, but it is especially heinous when it is done because the child will have a disability.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not think testing is necessary. If parents find out beforehand if their child has a disability or not, it raises the chances for them to abort the baby. If the tests can be wrong, then aborting a perfectly healthy baby is a possibility. On top of that, aborting a child with a disability shouldn't be an option to. If people only knew what a blessing it would be in their life to have the opportunity to raise a child with a disability, this would not be a problem. Also, if testing is going to harm the baby in the process, then I do not think it is necessary. I would rather not take the risk and embrace what children I am given when I have them, healthy or not.
ReplyDelete