Abortion for autism

[Intimes22]

My son is severely autistic with no language or understanding. He can be violent and needs all self care done for ,him.
We saw his doctor today and during that appointment we discussed cause and that in her opinion a gene is responsible for asd. She mentioned that her hope one day a cause is found with prenatal screening.

So it got me thinking if a test was created and all women was offered it. How many would opt for an abortion? As asd is a spectrum.
down syndrome is different obviously but its still a spectrum where most women abort if found during prenatal screening.

I believe that its the womens choice no matter what.

That is a worry.
I personally wouldn't want to see asd, downs etc screened out Which is why i fight for better treatment and education so parents feel supported.

The vast, vast majority of women who TFMR are doing so because their baby would suffer. And they don't want that for their child.

They are making their choice out of love, before their baby can experience pain, or distress or fear. The heartbreak is tangible, and lifelong.

There will always be women who choose to TFMR and there will always women who don't.

Absolutely.

This is a very measured and well thought out response. I agree with your sentiments.

Laurie I am interested in what that course was. Are you able to share?

My older DS has autism and I am on the brink of quitting my job as his needs become more complex and re-jigging my career in a way that is autism-focused.

I would abort personally because I have other children to consider and I don’t think it’s fair to knowingly have a profoundly disabled child who will need round the clock care when you already have children who deserve and need your love. You can’t physically stretch yourself between both parties equally so the NT child/ren will always miss out.

I'm not convinced that there is a single gene or cause of autism that can be screened for.

But ultimately if there is, it should be up to the woman in question on whether to abort or not, for any reason.

It's not an either or. If screening for autism is ever possible, allowing it doesn't mean we can't still fight for support for autistic people and their families.

I am the same but also I have 3 children, 1child with ASD, 1 child with ADHD and 1 on the pathway to a ADD diagnosis to add a disabled child into the mix would be to much not that I plan to have anymore children.
I know so many families like mine there has to a genetic element to ND.

I would fully support any women to abort for whatever reason they choose, autism even if you are high functioning is no walk in the park and severely affects my DD every day of her life.

I have a severely autistic son he's 12 and non verbal will never live independently, he's also the light of my life and I can't imagine life without ,him ,this is so is so subjective ,many people on here say they would abort for disabilities ,obviously many disabilities can't be tested for pre natally,the spectrum is huge ,hits a a very individual decision .

I very much doubt that a single gene is responsible for autism, it's far more likely to be a complex combination and that virtually rules out the possibility of antenatal screening.

I have an autistic DD and an autistic foster son and so I wouldn't contemplate aborting for those things, but that would be my choice and I would not dream of saying others should make the same choice. For Downs syndrome I absolutely would abort, mainly because of the incredibly high risk of very young onset dementia. Having seen my grandparents and my parents live with dementia means I would not wish that on anyone caring for someone in that situation. And again, I would not dream of saying others should make that same choice.

Which is why I support abortion as early as possible, as late as necessary and 100% the woman's choice alone.

My thoughts are that it's personal choice and no one should be attempting to sway anyone else either way.

Exactly this.

It all comes down to the individual woman and her own set of circumstances, she is the one who gets to decide and the opinions of others are irrelevant.

I am pro abortion for whatever reason the pregnant woman decides.

Are we being honest or 'kind?'
I would abort and am gobsmacked at how patient, selfless and amazing women who care for severely disabled kids (and let's face it's very much usually women) round the clock day in day out. I don't have nearly enough compassion or strength to be in your situation and would have to be blisteringly honest with myself about that.

I have 3 autistic children, another who has ADHD and another who has learning difficulties. I wouldn't abort for ASD. However a genetic test for it would be brilliant. No more assessments, no more "we're not sure", "your child is too young", "your child is too old" rubbish. It would save so much time and money.

I wouldn't even have the test. They are not always right. I refused the Down's test. I had an abortion when a teen as I was pregnant to a violent abuser's child. I would not because my child may not be perfect.

Autism is very much a spectrum though, I am pro choice but as I’m happily married to a man who is autistic and have adult children who are neuro divergent I don’t feel it’s a simple question to answer

All 3 are highly intelligent gentle kind people who have as much right to a place in this world as a neuro typical person, this is a path that could lead to eugenics and I say that as a NT person who unknowingly till midlife had 2 hereditary conditions that I passed on

Unless you have a child with that level of disability you have no idea if you could cope or not ,most of us do because we have no choice ,not because we are amazing most of us are just ordinary, sometimes disability cannot be tested for neither is it sometimes apparent at birth my child was around 18 months when we realised he wasn't developing as he should by which time he was our much loved child
It's not black and white

How horribly judgemental. So women should only have the right to hav4 an abortion if it's for a reason you approve of?

It's not about wanting a perfect baby. It's about being willing and/or able to care for a child and possibly then an adult who as additional needs, potentially severe ones.

It's definitely thought provoking. I have 3 children. My youngest definitely wasn't planned but i wasn't worried about autism or any other disability. I did fall pregnant again soon after he was born which i decided to abort as i was scared. My son can be difficult but he's made me into a better person and his siblings are very compassionate to others.

It's not about perfection.

It is thought provoking but Its difficult to imagine a different reality when you are living it ,if I had been told during my pregnancy the extent of my sons disabilities I don't know what decisions I might have made
But I can't imagine life without him now ,he can very challenging, but for the most part he's adorable and a huge character.

I wouldn’t abort either way, I said the same when they wanted to screen me for both pregnancies. I said you can do the test but I’m not having an abortion. Same for autism. My son is autistic, I wouldn’t change him for the world, he is very bright, and has a great sense of humour. One of my favourite people on this planet.

Unlikely to be a screen for autism as there isn’t a single gene and its way more complex than that. Thing about science is it seems like we know so much - but still know so little - and it reminds me of that film when everyone is given a score at birth based on DNA characteristics. Awful.

If you knew your child was a carrier for X disease that would severely stifle their life expectancy even if onset not from birth, what would you do then or is it just quality of life etc. All really big ethical questions with no obvious answer and scary to think about.

Support woman’s choice 100%.