Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be shocked 90% of Down's babies are aborted?

575 replies

Strictly · 14/01/2011 09:20

I was jut reading this sorry, yes it's from the DM!

and then did a little Googling and it turns out 91% of people told their baby has DS will have an abortion... Shock

I'm just astounded it's so high. I'm not making a judgment on the idea people might abort, but am very shocked that it seems almost universal to abort if told the baby has Down's.

I wonder what it is about that particular condition that 91% of people feel they could not live with? The rates for abortions of Cerebral Palsy babies for example is nowhere near as high. Is it just that Down's is easy to detect so the majority of people actually get the chance to decide?

OP posts:
belgo · 16/01/2011 17:37

tyler I wouldn't want the embryos to be tested in the first place.

midori1999 · 16/01/2011 17:40

"Disability is not the major factor in quality of life, its how society views disability and treats those who they see as different."

That's a very good point.

Devient you are of course entitled to post your own experience, I am sure no-one would be offended by that.

I don't like the idea and it saddens me, but I do think women have the right to terminate a pregnancy because their baby has some sort of disability, including Downs. The reason it saddens me so much is because you only have to look at this thread to see the ignorance that surrounds conditions like DS and the misconceptions people hold about it, sometimes they terminate based on those misconceptions and some people have already decided, prior to any testing or even a pregnancy that they would terminate because of Downs when actually they don't know very much about it.

onetoomanycornettos, the fact is, most people with DS do live happy, healthy and productive lives. Those with considerable problems are in the minority and often have other problems as well, which sometimes aren't diagnosed for a long time. (A friend of mine recently had hr 12 year old son also diagnosed with CP, it took health professionals that long to diagnose, he still has fairly limited problems though)

eviscerateyourmemory · 16/01/2011 17:41

tyler, that isnt necessarily correct.

tyler80 · 16/01/2011 17:45

Ok, my knowledge is limited.

I have a friend who is undergoing IVF and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) (for another genetic condition that runs in their family) who was told that they wouldn't when their first round produced no 'healthy' embryos

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 18:38

Revisiting this thread after a weekend away.

A really interesting one.

Many thanks to eidsvold, MrsdeVere, midori, wannabe and so many others sharing their experiences.

'People who have had terminations because of abnormality are allowed to grieve you know!

It is still the loss of a BABY.

I call my first trimester miscarriages BABIES, because to me they were.'

See, yes, that's true as it's subjective.

But to some, it's not the same thing at all.

To some, a loss is not the same as a choice to lose.

YouLittlePiggy · 16/01/2011 18:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 18:43

Disagree away.

Horses for courses.

Do what you need to do.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 18:48

There are genetic conditions that are incompatible with life and there is DS.

tyler80 · 16/01/2011 18:49

But there are numerous links on this thread that show that in some circumstances DS is also incompatible with life.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 19:03

I don't know about you, tyler, but I'm not a person who bases someone's life on internet links.

tyler80 · 16/01/2011 19:08

What a bizarre statement?

You would prefer people make decisions without being given the full range of information?

I understand for some that it is not a choice due to their own personal views, but accept that for many it is a choice (about as an acceptable choice as choosing whether to have you left or right hand cut off) but a choice nonetheless. And I think someone in that position should have the right to as much information as possible, internet links, personal experience, brochures, etc etc.

2shoes · 16/01/2011 19:08

"in some"
you said it, not all .

)thefirstMrsDeVere very good post.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 19:16

Hey, read the thread. I've already written, several times, that, when it comes to DS, for many, it's a choice.

No different from anyone's choice to terminate.

Fair play. It's a free country.

It's just that some, some, not all, see that as different from a loss over which there is no control.

And I'm talking about DS here, and situations in which the DS is compatible with life.

It is my opinion, I stand by it, as someone who's had miscarriages in the past, I don't see it as the same thing.

So sue me.

I save my sympathy for other people.

Big deal. I'm some faceless internet sprite.

2shoes · 16/01/2011 19:19

expatinscotland I think I get you, and in away aggree, there isn't a comparison between a still born baby, and a chosen termination.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 19:23

I don't disagree with someone's right to terminate. Not at all.

I just don't see a termination of a foetus wtih a condition which is compatible with life as the same thing as a loss is all.

2shoes · 16/01/2011 19:25

I worded my post a bit wrong as I didn't say the compatible with life bit,

WorzselMummage · 16/01/2011 19:26

That depends on your definition of life I guess.

BalloonSlayer · 16/01/2011 19:27

I agree with expat.

Eliza70 · 16/01/2011 19:29

Tyler there are two lInks, not numerous.

tyler80 · 16/01/2011 19:32

I don't believe in assigning points to tragedy

A stillbirth doesn't out trump a miscarriage

A decision to end a pregnancy where there is a poor prognosis (and this is the case for some babies diagnosed with DS) is no less deserving of my sympathy than someone who lost a baby because nature made that choice for them.

I can have sympathy for both situations.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 19:34

Go ahead then, tyler. It's yours to give.

Takes all colours to make a rainbow.

labtest · 16/01/2011 19:34

I agree with expat. My daughter was stillborn at 42 weeks and I have miscarried at 10 weeks. During both pregnancies We refused prenatal testing for down's as it would have made no difference to whether we continued the pregnancy. I do not feel I have much in common with someone who terminates after a prenatal diagnosis for down's or other disability other than one not compatible with life. I keep hearing about how the terminated babies were 'much wanted' but don't agree. I believe the baby they imagined they were carrying was much wanted and while it must be terrible to discover that your actual baby is not what you were expecting, if that baby was much wanted it would be here.

tyler80 · 16/01/2011 19:37

And I feel the need to post that so that posters here and anyone else who might stumble across this thread see that some people have another view.

I've been a shoulder to cry on, I'd hate to think that someone would lose out on valuable support for fear of being judged.

BalloonSlayer · 16/01/2011 19:41

"A stillbirth doesn't out trump a miscarriage"

I have had three miscarriages, all before 11 weeks. I was utterly heartbroken at each one.

My MIL had a stillbirth at 40 weeks.

Who do I feel sorrier for? Well HER times a fucking MILLION of course.

expatinscotland · 16/01/2011 19:42

Post away.

It's an opinion is all.