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pubmed:otherAbstract |
PIP: Many women who seek amniocentesis will subsequently seek an abortion if an abnormality is found, yet it does not necessarily follow that such abortions are the only social consequences of the procedure. A survey of genetics centers in North America provides strong indirect evidence that, for many women, the test offers reassurance and encourages the continuation of pregnancy. Many women in the United States have sought an abortion because such diagnosis was unavailable to them or because the results were inconclusive. Many of the latter had a low risk (under 2%) of having a defective child. The 117 genetics centers responding (out of 152 in a national directory) reported 67 women who chose abortion because prenatal diagnosis was not available or practical. The number of abortions reported because of unavailability of prenatal diagnosis is a least estimate and does not include male fetuses detected prenatally in carriers of X-linked conditions such as hemophilia or muscular dystrophy. In addition, genetic centers and laboratories could only report cases that came to their attention, not women who many have aborted after their obstetricians or other physicians told them that no test was available. Some women choose abortion rather than run a very small increased risk of having a child with an abnormality. On the basis of the survey results it is believed that of the many women who agree to amniocentesis and for whom there are normal findings, a significant number would have chosen abortion in the absence of the reassurance provided by the normal results.
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