Would you abort if the doctor said your child might have down syndrome?

Question

I was watching a show that said 90% of women abort their babies if the unborn baby might have down syndrome, so the question is would you?

When my aunt was pregnant they told her that her baby (my cousin) would be retarded (their words) and to abort, but she didn't.

And, it turned out he didn't have it.

Answer 1

I would never abort a baby that had a special need. I work with children with special needs, many of whom have Downs Syndrome and they are beautiful, loving children. When we are blessed with children, we don't have the right to get rid of the ones that don't fit our image of the perfect child!

Answer 2

i cant imagine your aunts story is recent because as far as i know nowadays doctors are very able to tell if an unborn child has downs-syndrome or not. Downs can also come in many grades. Some can do nothing, others can mentally grow to teenager. I'm liberal towards abortion in some cases, but it's not a luxury and neither are children. Furthermore I wouldn't know why a child with Downs would not have the right to live. Most people with Downs are very well capable of living a very happy life (sometimes much happier than any other "normal" person) and without pain. They do need lots of extra care, are not always easy to handle and maybe dribble their whole life, but they can also bring a whole bunch of love and joy.

Answer 3

One of the nurses told me this also. She also said that when many women have ultrasounds and find out they are not having twins, they abort. I had a QUAD blood test that indicated I was at high risk for downs syndrome: the reason: I'm 35! This is so sad. People are crazy. All those perfect babies killed, murdered by vain, heartless people. I took a 3d ultrasound and just as I suspected, my daughter is absolutely perfect. I would never abort! I would never put my child up for adoption, either. I think they should stop the tests. People have got it wrong playing picking and choosing with life and God's precious gifts.

Answer 4

it would depend on some other things. There are a lot of medical/pregnancy situations that are not black abd white - esp trisomy and neural tube defects. Ultrasound is more helpful than blood work in providing more specific information. For example, to determine how functional the child would be expected to be and how much medical support they might need, if they have a brain or not (this happens), how much pain, etc. Some situations are medically hopeless and the pregancy is terminated to save the mother's life. I think it is possible to be morally/ethically against abortion and still not carry a baby to term that has some serious issues like no brain. That's not your question.

Answer 5

Being a man, I don't really have a say in the matter.
But, being a man, I am going to have my say anyway.
I think raising a Down's Syndrome baby must be one of the hardest things to do in life. But, also one of the most rewarding.
Down the road from where I live is a young boy with the condition.
G+d, this boy is the liveliest human being I have seen in my life!
He is always running errands for somebody. And always with a big smile. He is a very nice part of our daily life.
Abort? NO!

Answer 6

I would definitely not abort my baby after being told that he/she had down syndrome. I really don't see a problem with having a baby with a disability like down syndrome. They are still able to be loved and love back.

Plus, I would always wonder if they were really right about my baby. Those tests, as you know already, are not always right.

Answer 7

Either while we were trying to get pregnant or early on in the pregnancy, my husband and I sat down and had a long talk. We talked about everything that we could think of that could possibly be wrong with the baby. We decided that no matter what may be wrong, we would never abort.

That is our child. That is the child that was given to us. We would never refuse that gift, no matter what the packaging.

Answer 8

My wife and I went through a similar situation with our daughter. ONe of the pregnency tests came back with an elevated risk for Down Syndrome we had a choice to do another test to determine 100% if that was or not but to do the test there was a small chance to have a miscariage. We chose not to have the test and deal with what god gave us. Our daughter is fine now. Even if she would have had down syndrome we still would not have aborted. The only positive for us was to prepair us in case she did.

Answer 9

I was told that my son has problems and i would never give his life up just because he is different. You have to think you might be able to fix the problem but you can never bring back the baby that you would have aborted. I am living every day with my son and they said he would never talk but my son is going through therapy 3 days a week and he is talking so i would never regret hearing that my son has problems because we are fixing his problems and i wonder everyday what is would be like if we had no son because we have choosen to abort and i am loving it being a mother yes i am not saying it is easy raising a child with problems its hard work but your child deserves it. My child and me have to learn sign language and everything.

Answer 10

I would be scared to have a special needs child, as I am not that good at interacting with people like that (being honest with myself here). However, i have heard many times that being a parent to a child with Down's Syndrome lets you experience a special kind of unconditional love that lasts the entire life of the child. I wouldn't give that up, even if I was scared.