M is for mixed emotions regarding the new blood test that detects Ds 31 for 21: Day 20

The test that we have been hearing so much about for the last few years is here.  Starting Monday in 20 major markets the test, which can detect Ds noninvasively, will be an option for mothers.  The success rate of determining if the child will have Ds is almost 100%.  It is done by collecting a blood sample which is less of a risk then what is currently offered.  The only ways to get near accurate positive results is by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.  Both of these tests are invasive techniques which carry a slight risk of complications including a miscarriage.  Women can be tested as early as 10 weeks, but most will be tested in the second trimester.  
Will an entire race be eliminated?  I think the answer to that would be no because you will always have parents who are fiercely opposed to abortion for different reasons.  Will the number of babies with Down syndrome be lowered?  It would seem that way.  We have already seen an 11% drop of babies born with Ds from 1989 through 2006.  Women who choose to terminate children who have a diagnosis of Down syndrome is over 90%.  That number is numbing to me.  I have to look at the amount of abortions overall and I don’t even think it is just a diagnosis of Down syndrome that has these numbers so high, it just that there are so many unwanted pregnancies period.  Much less a pregnancy with special needs involved.  I keep thinking of what would happen if we had a screening tool for Autism, Cerebral Palsy, or any number of diagnoses out there.  Would the parents abort then?  We have become a society that is all about me, me, me.  We want the latest, greatest, biggest and best of everything.  If we could genetically alter our children to have them just the way we want, would we not pick the best of everything for them to have?  They would be the smartest (Mensa smart), most popular, best sense of humor, best looking, best personality, etc., etc., etc.  You get the intent here.  I think of how the Jewish people must of felt when Hitler was in power.  6 million Jewish lives lost because one person persuaded others that his idea of a perfect race was to be carried out. He also had million of others killed because they were people with disabilities, different religions such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Polish civilians.  Whatever he deemed beneath him, he had them eliminated.  Are we eradicating a population of the world simply because people see our children as less than?  What will the numbers show 10 years from now because of this test?  Is my daughter part of the last generation of children living with Down syndrome?  Again, I don’t think so, because I do feel that you will have a small population of parents who will raise their child no matter what is in store for them.  Wouldn’t it be amazing if we would see a rise in the number of children born with Ds?  A rise because we had parents saying I can instead of I can’t. 
 I couldn’t handle having a child with special needs, better you than me. I don’t know how you do it.
It takes special people to raise a child with disabilities. 
Really?  No, I don’t think so.  Now are there parents who have no business with special needs children?  Absolutely, but they probably have no business pro-creating anything, including plants!  I think more than ever with the advent of so many ways of socializing via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, we can continue to share our message with everyone---having a Down syndrome child is some of the best parenting you can do.  You become a better person through the experience.  You will find that our children eat and poop the same way everyone else does.  You will find that their smile lights up your world.  You will have a voice you never knew possible.  You will celebrate all of the small things in life.
The test is not going away. Doctors will order it. Parents want to know. Parents will react—it is human nature to have emotions.   We need to be ready to advise if given the chance and to tell our stories. Will this test change the dynamics of how many children are born with Ds?  Yes, I am sure of it.  Let’s continue to advocate and share our perspectives of what it is like to give parents an option after they get a positive result if they choose to continue the pregnancy.  What I will continue to do is hope that physicians will allow parents to be educated on the positives of Ds, instead of telling them so many negative things.  That parents to be would find our stories and find hope.  We can’t change what is happening right now, but we can continue to share our children with all of mankind.   And as Martha Stewart would say----it’s a good thing!