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Anyone elect NOT to do genetic testing at age 35?
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Anonymous
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I will turn 35 in a month and am 10 weeks pregnant with my second. My OBGyn has discussed the non-invasive genetic testing (sequence test, neuchal (sp?)) with me and I am on the fence.
We did no genetic testing with my first, because I was barely 33 when I delivered and at that point we didn't even want to take the 1% chance of losing the pregnancy from invasive testing. Now I am older, so there is a greater chance of genetic abnormality. But what I am not sure about is what I would do with the information if I did get negative news. Did anyone else elect to not get the testing done? I am not sure I would want any negative information because I am not sure that I want the decision to act on it. I guess part of me just wants the child no matter what, and doesn't want to feel conflicted or guilty for having to make a tough decision with more information. I know this is probably not very mature and like an ostrich with their head in the sand, but I am just not sure I want to be placed in the position to make a painful choice. |
Anonymous
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I also was "on the fence" with non-inv genetic testing, mostly because of my age. After finding out this info, we did not pursue amneo or any other testing.
My husband and I discussed "what if" scenarios and we both agreed that we would love whatever came to us. Therefore, we took it no further, especially as amneo poses slightly increased risks to the developing fetus. |
Anonymous
| I got it done because I "did" want to know, so that I could have the option of that painful decision. However, after finally becoming a mom, I know now that I would love a baby no matter what. It took me being a mom first to come to that point. If you are already there, I see no reason to get the testing done. |
Anonymous
| I chose not to have any testing done except for Cystic Fibrosis b/c knowing could allow us taking precautions to when the baby was born if he/she had it. There is no testing for Autism and that is much more prevalent than any of the conditions they test for (I have an Autistic son). After having an Autistic son, I chose not to have testing with our third and last child (I am 35) because I have experienced first hand that you will love you child not matter what. |
Anonymous
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I am 39 and pregnant with our first. The only testing we did was cystic fibrosis, and that was before I was pregnant at a preconception visit. I didn't even give it much thought. Once I was pregnant, though, we gave it a ton of thought and had many lengthy discussions. We made pro/con lists. Ultimately we decided to skip all of the other genetic tests. Even the noninvasive ones, because they have a high false positive rate and it would have been very hard to skip CVS or amnio if we got a bad nuchal - we would have worried the rest of the pregnancy. We decided that whatever the test results were, would not change our course of action. We wanted this baby no matter what. If the definitive tests were risk free we might have considered them, only to prepare ourselves in case there is a problem. But there is a miscarriage risk, and someone has to be that "one" and we didn't want it to be us. We couldn't live with that. We also didn't want the stress of going through the tests and waiting for the results. I know I would have been a mess. I gathered from our discussions with the OB that skipping the testing at our age is the exception rather than the rule for this area.
One part of your post jumped out at me -
This is sort of where we started, not wanting to make the decision. After many discussions, we realized we really had already made our decision and would not terminate no matter what. I don't know where you will end up, but perhaps talking things through will lead you and your husband in one direction or the other. I wish you the best, whatever you decide to do. |
Anonymous
The issue is not just about whether or not you would "love a baby no matter what". With some conditions it can be a long, hard, road, and some people can need a lot of love and support when you yourself are no longer around to provide it. That said, testing offers no certainties and becoming a parent is a step into the unknown. But there are some things you can prepare for, and/or make decisions about. |
Anonymous
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I got pregnant at 36 after a miscarriage and we did do the nuchal. We knew there was a high false positive rate, but I tend to be a big believer in having information. Our results were very very positive, and therefore didn't justify the risk of an invasive CVS or amnio. But, I think you are totally normal to be trying to figure out how to make this decision.
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Anonymous
| If you go to a practitioner who does nothing but amnios, the rate falls far below 1%. There are reasons to have an amnio even if you don't intend to abort. Downs kids very often have heart problems. It's important to have a pediatric cardiologist on board from the very beginning. |
Anonymous
| We chose not to test with our first (I was 33) and not to test with this baby either (just turned 35), for many of the reasons already noted by previous posters. One thing I'll note is that many of the genetic abnormalities that CVS and Amnio test for show up via ultrasound and in other ways. We have something unusual going on with this pregnancy and one possibility could be a Downs indicator. We've had multiple ultrasounds and all of the OBGYNs have said that because the baby appears otherwise healthy, there is a very small chance that the baby would have Downs (or any other abnormality that would manifest itself physically)and us not know it by now. |
Anonymous
| I am only 29 and pregnant with my first and I did all "non-invasive" testing I could. I wanted to make sure we were prepared for anything. For the Downs testing, it can be done by ultrasound and a little prick for blood from your finger, I avoided the amnio and CVS. Not invasive at all and no risk of miscarriage. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| I will be 35 next month and am pregnant with my first. We did all non-invasive testing. I don't think we would have aborted, but at this age, it is nice to have some peace of mind. We also felt that if there were to be something wrong, such as DS, it would help to have some time to prepare for that rather than finding out the day the baby is born. I plan to return to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave but if something were wrong with our child I would probably SAH instead and, finanacially, that would take some planning and adjusting. |
Anonymous
| I'm only 29 as well, so I cannot comment on the age factor, but we knew going in that we would not terminate for any circumstances short of my life being in immediate danger, and thus that the miscarriage risk of the invasive tests was not worth it to us. However, we decided to do the 1st tri screen (includes nuchal test), because I wanted to know what chances to prepare for, if possible. |
Anonymous
That was me, except I was even a little younger - 27 (28 by the time I had the baby). I wanted to be prepared. |
Anonymous
| You may also want to think about some genetic results that mean the baby won't survive more than a day after birth. You may certainly decide that even in such cases you want to carry the baby to term but you might also want to know in advance. |
Anonymous
| Didn't do any testing with my first (I was 37). Now, with my second at 39, we just had the nuchal translucency ultrasound -- we had pretty much decided not to do invasive testing, regardless of what the ultrasound showed, just wanted to be able to prepare ourselves if it showed anything might be off (everything looked fine, thank goodness!) |