Reply to Anyone not going for more children because of advanced maternal age?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Given all the testing that is available and given what is a somewhat socially permissive "choice" culture, it seems to me that families are kind of, I don't know... pressured maybe?  To abort a child who tests as having Down Syndrome.  I am pro-choice as a policy stance, don't get me wrong, but I am not "pro abortion" as a socio-cultural stance.

When I hear of people say that they'll attempt to get pregnant but will abort if a Trisomy 21 abnormality presents itself in the pregnancy, I get veeeeeery, um, well, very sad.  Depressed.

And I almost get the sense that many people would look at a parent of a child with a chromosomal abnormality and think:  "Why didn't you get tested? And if it came up positive, why didn't you abort?"  As if it's almost a social--or even moral?--responsibility to do so.

I don't know where I'm going with this.  Nowhere, really.  Maybe just to say that it makes sense that if having a child with a chromosomal abnormality terrifies you (whether for selfish reasons or "for the sake of the child") then it makes total sense not to attempt pregnancy at all, or at least avoid it when the chances of this happening skyrocket.
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I agree.  Policy issues aside, I believe it is immoral to abort Down's babies, especially with the very clear information we have these days about the dramatic increase in risk with older moms.  There are long waiting lists of families who wish to adopt DS babies, so that if a family feels unable to care for the child, someone else gladly would help.  Down Syndrome is a significant though not insurmountable abnormality.  We do ourselves, our society and indeed all of humanity a grave disservice (reminiscent of Nazi Germany) [b]by perpetuating the myth that these people are "too much" to care for or that they would be better off dead.  [/b]

OP, I think you will find very few women who are afraid to get pregnant beyond 35 in the DC Metro area.   This is when childbearing tends to happen for many of the educated, career-track families around here.   And, the vast majority will abort if they discover an abnormality.  If you are comfortable following this trend, then you can rest assured that you are in good company and should not have any concerns about getting pregnant at 37.  And of course, the chances are highly in your favor that your baby will turn out to be genetically "perfect".[/quote]

It's not that DS fetuses are better off dead - it is (healthy) children that are born in their place + families, on balance, that are better off. For every child born with DS there is another child not born for the simple reason that people only desire some fixed number of children. [/quote]

This is some pretty convoluted mental gymnastics you are playing here (unless your post was meant to be sarcastic - hard to tell here).

Why do you - or why does anyone - believe that a family would be "worse off" with one of their two children having DS?  A bigger question -- why do we feel that struggles with our children, be they emotional or financial, make our lives worse?  As a culture we have to really look at ourselves and question this notion that personal sacrifice or suffering causes life to be [i]worse[/i].   I think we should all be asking ourselves:  why are we so SURE that we cannot handle unexpected challenges that come our way?[/quote]

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