@ParisInTheSpringtime The Harmony test is a blood tear which tests for chromosomal abnormalities from 10 weeks. On the NHS, you get neuchal fold measurements etc at your 12 wk scan and they also take blood and test it but you don’t get the results of these blood tests back until they come in the post up to a week after your scan. At your scan they can give you a good indication of whether you are likely to be high risk or not but you don’t know for sure until you get the blood test results.
I have relied on the NHS system with my previous two pregnancies but as I am now 40, and therefore in a high risk group, we are considering the Harmony test this time.
There are 2 advantages for me - one is that you get a result up to three weeks earlier and the other is that it apparently has a much lower rate of false positives, so you are less likely to have invasive testing done for no reason.
I have a good friend who was told at her 12 week scan that everything looked normal, so she told friends and family about her pregnancy. A week later she got the blood test results back and found out that they were high risk for Down’s. She went on to have an amino, the baby had Down’s and she had a termination at 14 weeks. This is a terribly sad story and not meant to worry people unnecessarily, but it is true.
I guess it also come down partly to what you would do if you found out that your baby had a high risk of chromosomal abnormality. If you know that you would carry on with the pregnancy regardless, maybe there’s no real case for it.
Hope that helps a little - just some of my own thoughts.