women and abortion and genetic testing

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1)I'm NT

2)This came up when I was pregnant. Because of my age, the OB strongly advised that I have an amniocentesis test done which would rule out- among other things- Down's Syndrome (I can't remember what the other things were, but nothing from your list). I declined, stating that I wouldn't abort regardless of the results. She gave me a talking to on how difficult it would be to raise a Down's Syndrome baby but I still declined.

As far as I can tell, a lot of women declined. The test for Down's Syndrome has been available for quite some time now and there are babies born with it even so. I know people are very concerned about a potential test for autism that would result in abortion and the end of autism/Asperger's Syndrome. That potentiality has been a reality for Down's Syndrome for many years and yet babies are born with it even so. So I think in reality saying "I would not abort" is something many pregnant women have chosen in reality.

1. Aspie (undiagnosed)

2. No, I wouldn't. Further to that, when I was pregnant I had a dodgy result on the spina bifida test. Long story short I spent three days awake at night having panic attacks until I got a further test to rule it out. My baby turned out just fine and looking back I think I wouldn't have aborted even if that meant he was going to be born with a disability.
By the way, is there a screening test for homosexuality??? that's not a disability

I'm not sure what homosexuality is doing on the list either to be honest..
But anyway...

I am Aspie, Mother, and Preganat with no. 2.

And I would not abort ANY of the above, or anything else. SOme are admittedly more serious than others... I have seen managable asthma, I have no issues with Aspergers at all, and I don't understand what Homosexuality is mentioned for.
The other two are harder on the baby in my opinion, but it would just mean it would be harder on me and baby to make things work. It's STILL a baby!! A living baby with a heart beat, feelings that can feel pain!

I think abortion is very wrong and if I was pregnant and someone said to get a abortion, I would start yelling at them!

I'd do the tests, but only in case my baby did have something like Down's.. just so I can prepare for when s/he's born.

I'm an aspie.

Would I abort a zef if it
had autism? Depends on how severe. HF, no; LF, yes.
Was gay? No.
Had cerebral palsy? Yes.
Had down syndrome? Yes (zefs don't have 'down's syndrome genes'; they have and extra chromosome. There's no such thing as an unaffected Down's carrier).
Had hemophillia? N/A; I'm not a carrier, and therefore couldn't have an offspring with hemophilia. I wouldn't abort a zef heterozygous for hemophilia, but I would educate it on the potential prolem for its own future offspring.
Had asthma genes? Depends on the severity. Low-level asthma runs in the family, so this is actually quite likely; I wouldn't abort for low-level asthma, but I would for severe asthma.

@^^^:
A heartbeat forms quite early in development, but a working nervous system takes a lot longer. Zefs don't have human EEG patterns until well into the 3rd trimester; no working brain = no ability to feel pain.

That picture, btw, does not represent what the PL movement claims it represents. Just for starters, the mother (and therefore the fetus) were both under general anesthesia - ie, unable to purposfully grab anything.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/medical/thehand.asp

back from hols!

Met a gorgeous baby there same age as mine (16 mths) who was born at 24 weeks gestation. (NOT third trimester)
He was perfect, handsome, gorgeous smile, and had no issues at all!

Sounds like he was already a person at 24 weeks..

You met him a long time past his 24 weeks birth. He had grown to 'full term' outside his mother's uterus, and then some; that doesn't mean that he had any more of a brain at 24 weeks than any other fetus, just that he was removed from maternal life support at that stage and placed on mechanical life support.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/294/8/947
quote:
Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester.

He was lucky.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premature_birth

Currently, the extreme lower limit of viability is 21 weeks. There are serious risks of complications with early delivery.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ... /112/2/351
quote:
Adverse outcome (dead or abnormal neurologic, psychomotor, or mental development) in infants 23 to 24, 25, 26, and 27 to 32 weeks GA was, respectively, 92% (11 of 12), 64% (7 of 11), 35% (8 of 23), and 18% (40 of 220).

I think this has strayed from the original question so I will stop arguing.

I am firmly anti abortion but I know that the anti-abortion and pro-abortion people rarely convince one another, and us Aspies can be notoriously stubborn. So this is maybe not a route of discussion to continue.

NT here.
No, I wouldn't abort my baby. I declined the tests when I was pregnant, I couldn't see the point of having them.

I am an aspie. If I got pregnant and wanted a baby, I would probably have an early abortion if it was confirmed that the baby had spina bifida or downs syndrome. However, I have heard of many cases that the tests say one thing and the child is born just fine.

If it had autism, definitely not. I would like that. I think I would like it even if the child was non-communicative. There is something about me that makes children come to me. They always seem to relate to me somehow, so I think I would be OK with an autistic child. I think it is because I understand that it is not about me and what I want; they have their own world, and as an autistic individual, that world is even bigger, more intense.

My child has Asperger's just like me. She is awesome.

I don't see a problem with early abortion. Raising a child is a huge responsibility. If people are not ready for it, they really should not have them.

In fact, I think people should have to go through an application before they can have children to prove that they are able and normal.

Let's be clear here --- I AM NORMAL. In my way, in my world. I am not talking NT or Aspie here, just... you know... nice and kind and understanding, albeit not really schmoozy or social; which in my world is normal.

So, no one would feel unwanted throughout their childhood, or misunderstood, or unloved.

Half NT here (I have ADHD if that explains why I put half NT) and if my baby had a condition that left them in the state of being a vegetable I would. My friend's daughter was born with half of her brain and she died a few hours after being born. Had she survived she would have lived her life on life support which isn't a life I would want for my child. I wouldn't abort if my baby had something like autism, downs, etc.