Prenatal Diagnostic Testing Debate

BLOG #4

Recently I was reading for Human Development and I found a section on Prenatal Diagnostic Tests to be very thought provoking and interesting. It is a woman’s choice to do prenatal testing and with advances in medicine and technology, there are a number of tests that can indicate if a fetus is developing normally. At 10-12 weeks, chorionic villus sampling can be used to detect genetic defects and chromosomal abnormalities such as Cystic Fibrosis, Spina bifida, Down Syndrome and Tay-Sachs disease. Also, between 15-18 weeks amniocentesis is a procedure that can test for chromosomal or metabolic disorders. Both of these procedures allow mothers to detect the presence of birth defects which may seem like a good thing but it concerns me greatly. With so many ways to determine information about your baby before he or she is born, it worries me that women will choose to abort babies who may have or be prone to diseases. While I am pro-choice, I am fully against this as a reason to have an abortion.
My opinion comes from a long history of volunteering and working with those with disabilities. As a special education educator, I have seen the progress made by my students each and every day. While they may not be on grade level with their reading and writing, they live happy lives and accomplish things such as learning how to cook, use computers, form sentences, ask questions and socialize. Just because they aren’t living a life that will end as a big time bank director or an engineer doesn’t mean that they won’t have a life full of success and accomplishments. When I volunteered with special education students in high school, I saw them go to their work sites like the grocery store and clothing stores. Some of them worked harder bagging groceries or hanging clothes than their normal co-workers who didn’t even care about their work ethic.
If a woman makes the choice to become a mother, it should not come with “only ifs”. “Only if” my child is a perfect size, shape, color, and has the perfect IQ will I keep the baby. Motherhood is a role that involves sacrifice and unending love. People may go to the extreme of finding out the gender, hair color, or predicted height and weight and have an abortion. While natural selection has lead us to be who we are today, I don’t think it is good for society if people select what kind of baby lives or dies. The uniqueness of appearance and skills may be compromised.
Some may argue that people have an abortion because it is hard on family relationships to have such a needy child. There are increased rates of divorce and family problems. To them I would say that there are a lot of hard things in life. Death of family members, fires, loss of jobs, debt, and social problems all taint the idea of a perfect life. If couples can get through these issues using their trust and belief in the strength their relationship, why can’t they have a child who may not be absolutely perfect? While it may be more work, it is work that is well worth it. My students who have disabilities are the funniest most compassionate and caring children in the school.
Everybody is different and no one is perfect; it’s as simple as that. For mothers to use information about their baby’s genetic make up to decide whether they are going to have the baby or not simply defeats the purpose of that statement. People with genetic diseases such as Down Syndrome and Mental Retardation do have long and happy lives. I personally think they spice up the world and teach us to appreciate the simple things in life.