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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:
SaggyHairyArse · 14/01/2011 17:44

It is so disappointing that people 'see' the disability before the child :(

LillianGish · 14/01/2011 17:59

Riven you have made your choice and Goingdownhill has made hers - frankly I think it is only posters like you who are in a position to comment on these sort of threads. I agree with NancyDrew about those posters who are holier than thou about decisions they have never had to make - do they just come on here to upset other Mumsnetters who have not had their good fortune?

BuzzLightBeer · 14/01/2011 18:02

Plenty of people who have a child with downs syndrome say "downs baby" or whatever. Are you tell them they aren't allowed? Isn't that up to them?

sarah293 · 14/01/2011 18:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

activate · 14/01/2011 18:06

1, Babies with Downs Syndrome

2, a foetus is not a "baby"

sarah293 · 14/01/2011 18:07

This reply has been deleted

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activate · 14/01/2011 18:10

what an individual chooses to call their bump is up to them

as soon as someone posts an inflammatory thread title about "abortion" and wishes to discuss abortion for whatever reason then I think they should use the correct medical and legal term

sarah293 · 14/01/2011 18:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

BuzzLightBeer · 14/01/2011 18:18

Theres no of course about it, otherwise there wouldn't be worldwide never ending debates about abortion that never actually agree!

Depends on your definition of life, doesn't it?

activate · 14/01/2011 18:19

No - put disability to one side

any discussion on abortion should use the term foetus

"To be shocked 90% of foetuses with Down's Syndrome markers are aborted"

WorzselMummage · 14/01/2011 18:19

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.

BuzzLightBeer · 14/01/2011 18:20

who said you can't? We don't have to use the same terminology though.

WorzselMummage · 14/01/2011 18:27

Quite right, we dont.

Anyone in a discussion about abortion can use whatever terminology they want.

fridayschild · 14/01/2011 18:29

DS1 was IVF and I remember discussing with the GP whether I should bother with a neuchal folds test for Downs. My view was that this might well be my only chance at a child so the test might be irrelevant. She said that children with Downs syndrome tend to be miscarried more often; and that I might want to give my family and friends time to get used to the idea of a child with Downs. She was an excellent GP, and I thought her advice was very good.

SauvignonBlanche · 14/01/2011 18:37

90% - fucking hell!
I'm shocked and very saddened by this.

labtest · 14/01/2011 18:39

Of course a foetus is a baby. It's actually the latin for 'offspring' and a human offspring would be a baby baby.

2shoes · 14/01/2011 18:40

so Riven made a choice..... ffs WTF
she did not choose for her baby to be damaged at birth, any more than I chose for mine to be.

labtest · 14/01/2011 18:40

Didn't mean to type baby twice.

2shoes · 14/01/2011 18:42

Blu glad you saw my post, as you can imaging I was not best pleased to find out they counted dd in that,

BuzzLightBeer · 14/01/2011 18:42

a human offspring is called a baby once it is born. There are reasons we have different terms, because they denote stages of development. Is an embryo a baby? Is a zygote a baby? Is a foetus a baby?

No. Thats why they are called embryo, zygote, and foetus.

Onetoomanycornettos · 14/01/2011 18:44

I think going on and on to people about the correct terminology (which I agree is baby with Downs' syndrome) all the time is counter-productive. I asked a friend who has a baby with Downs syndrome recently about this (she refers to him and others as Downs babies) and she said she doesn't care what anyone calls him, she just wishes anyone would pick up the phone and talk to her about him, her social exclusion has been dramatic since having him. Perhaps people fear they don't know the right terms, or will offend, so back off. And, being cross that people notice the Downs syndrome and not the person first is a bit strange really, be cross all you like, but if you meet a baby or adult with Downs syndrome, it tends to be the first thing you notice, even if you get to know them much better!

I can see where all the definitions issues come from, I can see why I don't like my children referred to in certain ways, but my worry about it is that going on and on just puts people off engaging with people with children with disabilities or disabled people for fear of getting it wrong or saying the wrong thing, especially where they are not actually using really offensive terms (as indeed happened in the past).

Bonsoir · 14/01/2011 18:44

I see quite a few Down's Syndrome adults around where I live, and that is because one of my local bus routes leads to a day care centre for adults with Down's Syndrome.

It's a tragic life and I completely understand why parents choose not to inflict it upon their children (or the rest of their families). Equally, I completely understand parents who choose to bring Down's Syndrome children into this world and, thankfully, there is a lot of understanding and a lot of public support.

Onetoomanycornettos · 14/01/2011 18:44

People don't say 'when's your foetus due?', do they? Come on!

staranise · 14/01/2011 18:46

I thnk that figure also applies to babies with Edwards Syndrome and other chromosome abnormalities, many of whom wouldn't survive the pregnancy.

I would never judge anyone for their decision, either way.

BuzzLightBeer · 14/01/2011 18:46

Did I say they did? But if you are going for an abortion, they ask about the size of the foetus, not the baby.

Which is my entire point. You can't just say "its a baby" if its in my body and I don't want it to be I can call it a foetus.

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