Abortion Debate Forum - Genetic Testing And Abortion


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Jules

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Genetic Testing And Abortion Posted: 09-25-06 02:19am


There is a condition called .X-linked .Retinitis .Pigmentosa (.R.P) in my family. It leads to blindness, usually by the age of 30. I have gone through genetic testing to see if I am a carrier of this condition because carriers have a 50/50 chance of me passing it on to any child they have. I have been told by my genetic counsellor that because they have identified the specific gene that is causing this condition in my family, if I fall pregnant again then I can have the unborn baby tested for the gene so that I can terminate the pregnancy if it comes back positive for .R.P. I would be interested to hear from people what they would do in these circumstances. Would you terminate a pregnancy if tests showed your baby would be born with a condition that would leave them blind? Just to clarify, I am not asking for advice so don't worry about 'influencing' me or anything. I just wanted to get some opinions on this as I feel it is pertinent to the abortion debate. Many thanks.

Meandering Away

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Re: Genetic Testing And Abortion
Posted: 09-25-06 02:38am

purestgreen wrote:

there is a condition called .X-linked .Retinitis .Pigmentosa (.R.P) in my family. It leads to blindness, usually by the age of 30.

I have gone through genetic testing to see if I am a carrier of this condition because carriers have a 50/50 chance of me passing it on to any child they have.

I have been told by my genetic counsellor that because they have identified the specific gene that is causing this condition in my family, if I fall pregnant again then I can have the unborn baby tested for the gene so that I can terminate the pregnancy if it comes back positive for .R.P.

I would be interested to hear from people what they would do in these circumstances. Would you terminate a pregnancy if tests showed your baby would be born with a condition that would leave them blind?

Just to clarify, I am not asking for advice so don't worry about 'influencing' me or anything. I just wanted to get some opinions on this as I feel it is pertinent to the abortion debate.

Many thanks.

.

Simply put, no I would not.I do not consider it as a viable reason for termination because 30 odd years into their life they will go blind, that is like saying should I give birth because the child is going to die in 80 years.

diamond splinter

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Re: Genetic Testing And Abortion
Posted: 09-25-06 03:51am

purestgreen wrote:

i would not have the test it would make no difrence to the fact that it is a human being and no adjustments would be needed to property before birth as you stated it is a gradual condition.

Jules

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Re: Genetic Testing And Abortion
Posted: 09-25-06 08:39am

stillherelosers wrote:

why don't you use this information to make your choice as to get pregnant in the first place?

well that's a very interesting point and something I thought long and hard about before I got my results through. Personally, my husband and I wanted children and so were willing to take the risk. We would not have chosen to have the test done on the foetus because we could not have aborted if the results were positive.

Selfish? Perhaps. But that was our choice.

Like I said in my original post, I am not asking for advice because I already know what my decision would be. I am interested in what other people would do in a similar situation. Stillhere has made a very valid point - would anyone decide not to have children in these circumstances?

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Posted: 09-25-06 11:00am


Purest I can actually offer you advice because im going through a matter very similar... In our genes we have cerebal palsy and muscular dystrophy, my sister and my father have been affected by these dieseases since they were born unfortunatly both diesease affect males over females. I had my children, knowing there could always be a possibility of these dieseases attacking them but my sister and father lead more than normal lives. My father doesn not tell anyone he is disabled fo the fact he does not want to be treated differently but will tell ppl after. I think as long as that person is treated normal they will feel and act normal but it is up to the parents to teach them that moral! However, I feel that if a child so severly disabled they will never be able to reap the benefits of life/ sit there and do nothing/unable to comprehend anything then preferably a mother should terminate unless they can handle the sitiuation and not ask of society to take care of them. This is my opinion but I will never judge force my opinions on someone, life should be made equal to everyone but to someone who will never be able to enjoy it why bring them to life!

Tylanas

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Re: Genetic Testing And Abortion
Posted: 09-25-06 11:11am

purestgreen wrote:

they have until age 30? Doesn't your husband also need the gene?

I would not abort a wanted child because of this condition. They would have a normal youth from what you're saying; and many people live completely full lives when blind. And I really do mean full; as they are not mentally handicapped.

Jules

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Re: Genetic Testing And Abortion
Posted: 09-25-06 12:17pm

eiri wrote:

they have until age 30? Doesn't your husband also need the gene?

no, my husband is not an issue. It would be carried down to my child on my dodgy x chromosome alone.

Also, the condition progresses at different rates. Males are usually affected far worse. The males in my family are usually registered blind by mid-late teens. The women it is more like early 30s. Blindness does not suddenly occur but is a gradual process.

My councellor has gone through all the science of the condition but i've got to admit that I don't understand it all because it is so complicated Confused

Jules

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Posted: 09-25-06 12:19pm


Stem cell research is where the cure will be found for this condition. In .R.P., the retinal cells die and are not replaced as they are in healthy people. Stem cells could mean my family members could regain their sight. Another minefield there then!

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Posted: 09-25-06 12:34pm


I don't think I would abort but I would like to know - when I decide to have children I will have the various tests they offer to see if the fetus is healthy or not. Personlly I don't think blindness (especially at such a late age, although it must be devastating to lose your sight). I would abort if there were serious disabilities though

Tylanas

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Posted: 09-25-06 12:49pm


There are stem cless and other helpful things to be garnered from a baby's cord blood; and I think this would be an excellent option for any children you may have

Jules

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Posted: 09-25-06 12:56pm

eiri wrote:

there are stem cless and other helpful things to be garnered from a baby's cord blood; and I think this would be an excellent option for any children you may have Smile

thank you .Eiri. Smile

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Re: Genetic Testing And Abortion
Posted: 09-25-06 14:15pm

purestgreen wrote:

i would terminate a pregnancy for a variety of genetic disorders that run in both my and my husbands family (.R.P is one of them as well). We have not gone through genetic testing yet because we are nowhere near ready to have children but when the time comes, we both will and will re-evaluate our child bearing decisions at that time. If it is just too risky (risk of 50% or greater for any of the more worst disorders), then we could very well decide not to have biological children. We've always said that if we made enough money, that we would adopt a child and that will not change if we have biological children or not so one way or another, I will raise a child later on in my life (hopefully, though if we never get out of the working poor class, we'll never have any).

I would not wish some of the disorders that run in our family on anyone and I do believe that an abortion can be more merciful than the "life" the fetus might lead outside of the uterus.

diamond splinter

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Posted: 09-25-06 15:32pm

diamondsz wrote:

purest I can actually offer you advice because im going through a matter very similar...

In our genes we have cerebal palsy and muscular dystrophy, my sister and my father have been affected by these dieseases since they were born unfortunatly both diesease affect males over females.

I had my children, knowing there could always be a possibility of these dieseases attacking them but my sister and father lead more than normal lives. My father doesn not tell anyone he is disabled fo the fact he does not want to be treated differently but will tell ppl after. I think as long as that person is treated normal they will feel and act normal but it is up to the parents to teach them that moral!

However, I feel that if a child so severly disabled they will never be able to reap the benefits of life/ sit there and do nothing/unable to comprehend anything then preferably a mother should terminate unless they can handle the sitiuation and not ask of society to take care of them.

This is my opinion but I will never judge force my opinions on someone, life should be made equal to everyone but to someone who will never be able to enjoy it why bring them to life!

diamondz I thought that cp was a neurodevelopmental condition nor genetic one of my boys got his cp through meningitis and when we asked if it could affect any children he may wish to have meaning could he still physicaly have them we were told that there was no medical factor involved as it isn't a genetic disorder.

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Posted: 09-25-06 17:15pm


I would abort no matter what, but for a moment i'll pretend like i'm somewhat pro-life. If I knew a child I was carrying had any kind of deformity, I would abort it. It's both cruel and selfish to deliberately bring a child into existence that you know has something very wrong with it. Although there's not much of anything good to see in today's overpopulated, warring world, I think it would be quite mean to let a child be born without the ability to see, and heaven knows how much the child will hate its mother if they find out one day that she birthed them with the knowledge of their blindness. All I can say is if I couldn't see and my mother knew it...Or if I had anything else wrong with me, I would want to be aborted - to save myself from unnecessary suffering and to save my family from unneeded hospital bills (depending on the severity of the problem).

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Posted: 09-25-06 20:08pm


I would have it and I wouldn't do any genetic testing. The bf of my bf's mom didn't had children afraid of passing the diseases of the family. His mom had schizophrenia and his dad parkingson so he decided to not have children. I personally wouldn't like to get pregnant, get all excited about the pregnancy, then receive news the baby has this genetic disorder, then go through the abortion and all the trauma that comes with it. For that I rather not get pregnant in the first place.