1 in 8 chance of DS or Patau Syndrome

[jools70]

I will start at the beginning in the hope that someone can give me some advice.
I had IVF treatment and found I was having twins, we lost one of the twins at 9 weeks.
We then went along for another scan at 13 weeks and everything on the scan looked perfect the NT was 1.1mm which again was perfect.
The bloods came back low papp-a and high hcg, which meant a 1 in 8 chance of DS or something called Patau (which sounds dreadful for the poor baby).
When we had the scan the other sac for the twin that died was still present and the consultant said that the combined test should never have been done for us as this would change the bloods, however she said it would still be high, we asked how high as this could change our minds about further investigation, and she said "it didn't really matter it would still be high".

I have contacted a couple of other places since and they also tell me the combined test should never be done if there is another fetal pole present.
We are so confused and I am so depressed at the moment. We are due to have a Quad test next week and then another scan at 16 weeks with a chance of the Amnio test if they find anything eles.
This baby is so precious as is any baby, but after IVF then losing the twin I'm not sure I can take much more heartache. Please can someone help!

The quadruple test in just another screening test and won't give you any reliable info.

Pataus is obviously more serious, but my DS3 has Downs Syndrome and in most cases it really is no big deal. It hasn't had the negative effect on my older two DS's that people seem to think it will have, and in fact, I would say it has had a positive effect on our family. He did have open heart surgery for a heart defect at 6 months old, but he sailed through it and although this might sound silly, it wasn't much of a big deal, especially for him.

In my case (and if fact the case of most people I knowwho's child has Downs) it wasn't detected during pregnancy, despite screening tests and scans. I wouldn't bother with any testing in subsequent pregnancies, despite automatically being offered an amnio in pregnancy 4, as it really makes no difference if I have another child with Downs. My DH, who is not the father of my children, who are from my first marriage, agrees.

Midori1999 - Thank you for your reply, I don't think DS will make a difference to me, I always thought it would but now we are faced with the possibility we would still love the baby unconditionally. It's the Pataus that is the problem, going through 9 months and then the possibility of a still birth or the baby only living 6 months would be awful. I think you have to be a very strong person to cope with that.
You and your DH are an inspiration.
If anything else is found on the scan at 16 weeks we may decide to have the Amnio.

So you think the Quad would be a waste of time? After reading the litrature on this we thought so too.

Thanks again