MaggieB
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2008
- Messages
- 646
Oh man, this is tough, tough, tough.
I had an IVF baby, so I had to give a lot of thought to the possiblity of genetic testing. I ultimately refused everything, even the triple screen test, which is pretty basic for pregnancies. I definitely don''t "recommend" what I did - or not recommend for that matter - it was just my personal decision. The path to having a child provided enough stress for me, and due to my history of miscarriages, I thought that pregnancy would be stressful enough too - without the added stress of knowing that my baby carried some disease.
Experiences within my family definitely lead to my decision. We cannot, no matter what test or precaution we take, have children without risk. My cousin had a trouble free pregnancy with a genetically perfect baby. But he got caught in the birth canal, lost oxygen for an extended period, and he is severely mentally handicapped. My aunt gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy, took him to a PTA meeting at her older children''s elementary school, and as he was walking around the lunchroom, a lunchroom table that had been propped against the wall fell and killed him instantly.
On the flip side, my co-worker gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that died of Krabbe disease before the age of 2. Genetic testing showed that she and her husband had a 75% chance of any future children they had also having and dying of Krabbe disease, so she chose to have IVF and to carry a fetus without the gene. If I''d had HER personal medical history, I would have chosen to do this as well.
I had an IVF baby, so I had to give a lot of thought to the possiblity of genetic testing. I ultimately refused everything, even the triple screen test, which is pretty basic for pregnancies. I definitely don''t "recommend" what I did - or not recommend for that matter - it was just my personal decision. The path to having a child provided enough stress for me, and due to my history of miscarriages, I thought that pregnancy would be stressful enough too - without the added stress of knowing that my baby carried some disease.
Experiences within my family definitely lead to my decision. We cannot, no matter what test or precaution we take, have children without risk. My cousin had a trouble free pregnancy with a genetically perfect baby. But he got caught in the birth canal, lost oxygen for an extended period, and he is severely mentally handicapped. My aunt gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy, took him to a PTA meeting at her older children''s elementary school, and as he was walking around the lunchroom, a lunchroom table that had been propped against the wall fell and killed him instantly.
On the flip side, my co-worker gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that died of Krabbe disease before the age of 2. Genetic testing showed that she and her husband had a 75% chance of any future children they had also having and dying of Krabbe disease, so she chose to have IVF and to carry a fetus without the gene. If I''d had HER personal medical history, I would have chosen to do this as well.