Prenatal Genetic Analysis

One of the benefits of prenatal screening is to enable early detection of the developmental defect embryology. This embryology developmental defect may be due to the mutation or genetic inheritance. Mutation is a condition characterized by permanent change in the DNA sequence that makes up a gene. It can range in different sizes from a single DNA building block (DNA base) to a large segment of a chromosome. On the other hand, genetic inheritance is a condition whereby parents pass traits such as height and other characteristics to the children by chromosomes. “Sonograms, genetic tests and a new test called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis -- which is a genetic test conducted on embryos for people attempting pregnancy through in vitro fertilization -- allow women to better predict if the infant will have a genetic defect” (New York Times Magazine, 2006). Thus thorough these tests, medical practitioners are able to identify and make early preparation toward any abnormalities of the fetus.

Many people have a negative outlook on prenatal genetic testing but that is because they are not educated on the goals

Here is a real life story of a woman who has been greatly affected by genetic testing and has seen both the good and the bad of genetic testing. This is a story that was posted in an article called “6 Moms Share Their Real Prenatal Testing Stories” on the website “What to Expect” from Courtney from Lake Stevens, Washington about how genetic testing has affected her life. So for Courtney, a few weeks after her 13 week ultrasound and her quad screen her doctors told her she had a positive screen for Down syndrome. So at 17 weeks she had to go back in for another ultrasound and genetic counseling which according to kids health.org is counseling that allows a genetic counselor to evaluate the results of a genetic test with the parents and helps the parents understand and reach decisions on what to do next. Her ultrasound looked great but still had a positive screen for Down syndrome. So she was was recommended for either an amnio or verifi test. Courtney then went to genetic counseling and choose to have the verifi test done over the amnio. A week later her results came back negative for Down syndrome and confirmed the baby was a girl. Courtney said “I am glad we opted to get the verifi test done especially after the stress of getting a positive screening before. I like how that if the NIPT did turn out positive for Down syndrome, I could have prepared ahead of time for the care of a special needs child would require, rather than feeling completely caught off-guard at birth.”

Prenatal testing includes screening and diagnostic testing that can provide valuable information to parents about the baby’s health. “Women are routinely offered a variety of genetic screening tests during their first three months of pregnancy to evaluate the risk for genetic disorders in their unborn baby” (livescience.com). I believe prenatal testing and counseling should not be mandatory and that each person needs to make their own decision based on their specific circumstances. Many prenatal tests are noninvasive and only require blood or urine and can test for HIV, anemia, diabetes, hepatitis B and preeclampsia. An ultrasound can also be used to detect some abnormalities with the baby. Doctors may strongly recommend that women who

In Improvements in Prenatal Genetic Testing Raise Ethnic Issues, R. J. Crayton produced an article about prenatal testing and whether or not parents should be allowed to have these tests done. First the situation of a high risk baby who will have a disability or defect after birth, so the parents decide to abort the child is being viewed as an inequality to the disabled community. Secondly, certain adoptions are put on hold since the biological parents chose to not carry the unborn child through the entire pregnancy, however, the surrogate mother wants to carry the child through the entire term. Lastly, research shows that the results can be a false positive, so unintentionally the parents decide not to keep the unknown, but healthy baby.

The purpose of the document is to explain the benefits of prenatal genetic counselling, procedures and tests used to find genetic abnormalities, and what to do with the information received through genetic counseling.

Prenatal testing is used to help understand the health and state of an unborn child concerning any birth defects or any other health concerns to help families prepare for the child before it is born. Many physicians and families use prenatal testing in order to help determine whether or not a mother will want to continue with a pregnancy if there is “fetal impairment (that) is detected” (1650). This would then allow for the mother to make a selective abortion. While some information is helpful concerning the health state of the unborn child, there needs to be a distinction between acute injury and chronic disability. However, Asch reiterates that the terms “such as ‘heath,’ ‘normality,’ and ‘disability,’ are not clear” terms and that they vary

The overall problem of prenatal screenings is the understanding of what they are and how they may be perceived by others (Deans, Clarke & Newson, 2015, p.19). Ethical issues tend to arise when people are either misinformed or not informed

It is important for a well educated person to have thorough understanding of advanced methods of prenatal testing because they could possibly have to consider using this type of testing in their future. If there is a circumstance where one of the parents carries a gene for mental or physically illness, they may need to undergo one of this procedures. However, it is vital to know all the pros and cons before actually participating in one of these procedures. Without the knowledge, one may not be aware that they can actually test for an illness that runs in their family. If one decides to undergo one of the procedures, they give themselves a chance to figure out what exactly they want to do with the child and can prepare themselves to support the child once it enters the world. However, depending on the illness, couples can decide to abort. It is also critical to know the risk of miscarriage connected to both procedures.

When it comes to prenatal Diagnostic testing, I would recommend getting ultrasound to anyone pregnant. At least with the Ultrasound, soon to be parents are able to see the the growth of the fetus. The doctors would be able to tell if there is physical defect which will help doctors see if there are actions that need to be taken. I do not believe that anyone should jump to other testing methods due to the complications it can cause. Unless someone knows there is a history of defects and disorders, fetal medicine has a lot of consequences. Anyone getting prenatal diagnostic need to be aware of the risks they could be taking because these test "result in complications, the most common being premature labor and miscarriage"(Berk, 2012, p. 64).

I believe that prenatal screening is essential to life. Although a prenatal screening can not diagnose what a baby will have later on in life, it can diagnose what it has now. There is nothing wrong with wanting to know whether or not your baby will be born healthy or not. In our world today, raising a baby with health difficulties is hard. It is a lot of extra patient, time, money, and stress. It's hard for a family to just give up their personal unborn child, but it reality you have to take up challenges you can handle. I don't think it is fair to force a family to have a baby with health difficulties, when they know they are not capable of taking care of he or she. This can lead to the death of a child in a non abortion sense as well as sickness in the caregivers. If a caregiver is not capable of providing care for the child, they are going to be under a lot of mental stress and/or depression which is very unhealthy. I personally agree with the idea that you know yourself better than anyone else. A mother knows what she needs to do when she finds out whether her baby is healthy or whether it is not. I think prenatal screening is useful and should be left up to the mother to decide the outcome of her baby or in other terms express the phrase “it is good(and justified) that you

Disability rights advocates have great concern about such procedures that eliminate so called “disabilities”. Many argue that the healthy wellbeing of a disabled child is often easily disregarded as limited and disadvantageous, when really many people with disabilities lead full and satisfying lives7. They argue that PGD is a form of genetic discrimination, particularly against disabled people. Professor Mark Henaghan, dean of faculty law Otago University and member of Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ACART), states that PGD is indeed a form of discrimination. "If you choose an embryo that doesn't have a certain gene, you're discriminating against that defect. It's really a question of whether you think there is any great

The exam given is a genetic exam, doctors are required to speak to the parent to receive it the beginning stage of pregnancy, also referred to as the first three months (Nierneberg, By Cari. "Prenatal Genetic Screening Tests: Benefits & Risks.") The test is completed and processed by recording the level of certain substances in the mother's blood and receiving an ultrasound (Nierneberg, By Cari. "Prenatal Genetic Screening Tests: Benefits & Risks."). Exams given to the mother is not what is physically harmful, but is what leads to the harm. Parents take this information given, whether it was good or bad and talk to their spouse. To the parents given bad information about their soon to become child, they get the option and are questioned by

Although PGD is a relatively new procedure, there are several ethical questions surrounding its use. One question is, "Should parents be allowed to choose characteristics for their children that are not related to disorders such as their baby’s eye color, personality, or even the sex of their baby?" [Wekesser,1996]. Until the genes responsible for inherited traits such as the previously mentioned are mapped, this is not an issue. If scientists do not know where the gene is located, they are unable to create a test determining the presence of the gene. However, because we do know how the sex of a child is determined, a specific gender can be screened for. Many believe that this should

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a current socio-scientific issue because it is an issue that relates to science as it is a biological procedure and because it is a very controversial issue in today 's society. Some people are against PGD as they believe that an embryo is a human being and that the process of PGD results in the killing of babies. However there is a demand for PGD as it is needed for some people. The need for PGD stems from couples wanting healthy babies. Some couples try to have babies but genetic faults result in multiple miscarriages, some people know that they carry the gene for a particular genetic disorder such as Huntington’s disease or Cystic Fibrosis so they may want to make sure their baby doesn’t have the gene. There are a range of people who can benefit from and might need PGD; people who carry sex-linked genetic disorders, people who carry single cell gene defects, people who have chromosomal disorders or abnormalities, women who have had multiple miscarriages, and women over age 35. Some people use PGD to have ‘saviour siblings’ which has to be approved by the ethics committee and some countries even allow PGD to be used for sex selection