Ben Goldacre, writing the [UK] Guardian’s “Bad Science” Column, says the media goofed when it quoted without question a BBC documentary that claimed more British mothers are knowingly choosing to give birth to babies with Down syndrome.

There has been an increase in babies born with Down syndrome since 1989, Goldacre says, but the increase can be traced to the greater number of fetuses with Down syndrome, caused by women postponing childbearing until later in life. In 1989, just 6 percent of pregnant women in the UK were over 35 years of age; by 2006, it was 15 percent.

More than nine out of 10 women who have an antenatal diagnosis of Down’s syndrome decide to have a termination of the pregnancy. This proportion has not changed since 1989. For many parents the decision to terminate will be a difficult and upsetting one, especially later in life, and stories like this create a pretty challenging backdrop for making it.

Clarifications were offered in Britain by the National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register and the National Health Service’s Choices website.

See also:

Baby clock: Birth survey has reignited debate on delayed motherhood — [UK] Independent

Many keeping babies with Down’s — BBC

Down’s births increase in a caring Britain — [UK] Times

More mothers are choosing to keep their babies with Down’s syndrome — [UK] Daily Mail

My daughter shows why we should celebrate Down’s syndrome children — NOT abort them — by Rosa Monckton in the [UK] Daily Mail

Parents who give up their Down’s syndrome children — [UK] Times

Why I put my Down’s syndrome baby up for adoption — and the loving mother who took him in — [UK] Daily Mail

A few home truths about Down’s syndrome — [UK] Telegraph

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pm and is filed under abortion, commentary, Down syndrome, NOT2BEMISSED, prenatal diagnosis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.