A study by Susan E. Kelly in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness says parents of children with genetic conditions or impairments chose to avoid the “choice” offered by prenatal testing technologies in subsequent pregnancies.

Surveying parents whose children are enrolled in a state-wide rural genetic outreach program in the mid-Southern U.S., Kelly found that the majority chose either to avoid future pregnancy, declined prenatal testing for subsequent pregnancies, or limited testing to “for information only.”

She concluded that the responses demonstrated an ambivalence by parents of kids with disabilities toward the ethical dilemmas presented by reproductive technologies. An excerpt:

“These findings run counter to the rationale of risk reduction technologies of prenatal testing: to assist ‘at risk’ families to have ‘healthy’ children.”

See also: Parents ‘avoid pregnancy’ rather than face testing choices — Sciencedaily.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 4:55 pm and is filed under abortion, Down syndrome, families, genetics, NOT2BEMISSED, parents, prenatal diagnosis, public attitudes. 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.