Life/Death choices

[Nessa 23]

Links for pre-natal detectable diseases/disorders:

Down Syndrome

22q11.2_deletion_syndrome

Cystic Fibrosis

Turner Syndrome

Spina Bifida

Cleft Palate

Tay Sachs Disease

Sickle Cell Anemia

Thalassemia

Fragile x Syndrome

Discuss.

[Nessa 23]

MALE: First and third questions, answer as what you'd prefer to be your wife's choice.

[Ms. Squirrel 11]

Am I dreaming or did I answer this about an hour ago and my reply got deleted??

[Jenn! 918]

Am I dreaming or did I answer this about an hour ago and my reply got deleted??

Poll has been revised and reset.

[Nessa 23]

Am I dreaming or did I answer this about an hour ago and my reply got deleted??

i told ya to join AA

[Amby 490]

I would abort for all of those diseases. If you've ever had someone in your family that was as severely disabled as my brother was then you would understand. He was 3 months premature and made it. Then, when he was about 1 month old he got spinal meningitis. I don't know all of the details but I do know he is the smallest baby to ever survive the condition he had. They said he wouldn't live past age 3. When he made it to 3 they said 5. When he made it to 5 they said 9. When he made it to 9 they stopped saying. The doctors were so amazed he was still alive they stopping trying to predict how long he would be around. They said it was due to his great care at home that he was able to live so long. He couldn't walk or talk. He could make noises but only as basic as a baby. He couldn't control his body temp so he had to take special medications. He had seizures almost daily even though he didn't have epilepsy. He had to take growth hormone to grow because his gland didn't work properly. They had to stop giving him the growth hormones when he was 7 because he was getting too big for people to properly take care of him. He finally passed away at age 12 from aspiration pneumonia. I wouldn't want any child to have to go through anything even close to any of that EVER. If I knew ahead of time that a baby had a disease I would abort.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Amby

[Sassy1natl 0]

Wow. This is deep. I have to think about this and come back... hmmm.

[Yiyi and Chris 0]

It is deep, but it's something that we can all face someday, and until that day really comes it's hard to "decide" what to do.... Even at that moment you wouldn't know if your choice it's the correct or not!

[Nessa 23]

i find it interesting the amount of people that would have anm abortion if they found out their kid had one of those diseases, specially the ones that are operable, like cleft lip or palate. Deny a child the right to be born because of that is just plain mean.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Nessa

[Yiyi and Chris 0]

I compleatly agree with you Nessa!!!... Beside cleft palate it's a preventable disease, the mothe just have to have good prenatal care

[Sassy1natl 0]

If I knew that the only way that my child could survive was for me to die....so be it.

Abortion...I believe in the right to chose. I don't believe that I could have an abortion regardless of the scenario (rape or otherwise). But I do not condemn you for your choices. If God hadn't meant me to be pregnant, then I wouldn't be. However, I do not believe that people should use abortion as a form of birth control. But ultimately you and only you should have the say so with your body.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I know a women who was born with a cleft palette and she refuses to have a child because she doesn't want to genetically pass this trait on and have a child endure what she did. It her form of self sterilization. Her Husband wants kids but she refuses and now they are getting past the age limit.

If the choice was between me and my unborn child I would give my life to the child though I know my Husband would choose me over the child.

It would also depend on survival rates and who had a better chance of survival.

[Mags 112]

Considering I used to screen pre-natal samples for the many of those syndromes I'd not have a termination for Turner Syndrome or Cleft palate. Turner Syndrome girls are, for the most part, normal (mentally) and physically they can function day to day without anyone knowing they have something wrong with them. They are often short (4'10 - 5ft being the average height), with a wide neck and they are generally infertile.

Cleft palates can be repaired - any one who aborts a child for a cleft palate disgusts me.

Down Syndrome depends on the parents. They can be extremely engaging children, loving and attentive. Some people have it in them to care for them, others don't. Many DS children have IQs just barely below the norm and can function perfectly well in society today.

Di-George Syndrome (22q11.2 deletion) varies. Mainly because the size of the deletion varies, so the extent of how they affected can also vary. Some have a minor deletion and you wouldn't know about it. Whether I would abort would depend on the size of the deletion which can be determined through karyotyping (which I used to do for a living!).

The other diseases - although I have some knowledge of them - are diagnosed in a molecular genetics department - I was in Cytogenetics.

I just want to add that anyone who feels they are at risk from giving birth to a child from these syndromes, or have family history of these syndromes, should receive proper Genetic counselling from their health service before contemplating anything. Some of these syndromes are very complicated and it isn't cut and dried regarding how severely the child could be affected (for example mosaicism can dilute the severity) - that's why I can't recommend Genetic counselling enough.

Wiki is good for explaining many things, but it IS written (in the main) by Joe Public, and they are often not educated or trained properly regarding these syndromes.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Magenta

[Mags 112]

I compleatly agree with you Nessa!!!... Beside cleft palate it's a preventable disease, the mothe just have to have good prenatal care

No no NO! It is nothing to do with good pre-natal care! It's nothing to do with what the mother does during the pregnancy. It's just a simple malformation of the palate - usually occurring in the first trimester and isn't preventable - if it's going to happen, it's going to happen.

Seriously, think before you post.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Magenta

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Male USC - no i would not pick the life of the unborn over my wifes

Male USC - pro choice

Other - I don't know what most of those diseases mean and I don't feel like finding out