AMA

Ximena M

I broke down crying today at my first visit because I don?t want to have any really invasive testing, but my age makes my high risk for ds.  I?m a special education teacher and I have always taught the most severely disabled kids in the district.  Some of the students I have taught have such rare disabilities that most people would go through life never encountering a person with those disabilities.  I have to say I am so freaked out right now.        

jb2rn

I think we all worry about it. How old are you? It's totally up to you if you want the testing. If you think knowing for sure in advance will be a good thing, you can do the CVS or Amnio. If that is too invasive, you could just do the NT scan and go from there.

Owl38

I agree with PP,  you could do the (non-invasive) first tri screening/NT scan and see how the results look. Make sure to let your OB know that you want to do this in time for a CVS if necessary. But I think your screening results would probably reassure you.  Also- you are not necessarily high risk just because of your age!!

Geeps2

As the other PP have said just because you are over 35 DOES NOT automatically mean that there is something wrong with the baby. Your risk goes up but just slightly as compared with your under 35 counterparts.

 I completely understand the fears. I too am an educator, I'm finishing my masters in Sped and I work outside of school with a child with sever autism, so I get it.  I would take a step back, take some deep breaths, and talk to your Dr about your concerns.  Going over your family history, blood work and the NT scan can be a great starting point and as people said then you can take it from there.  All tests are optional you do not have to do any of them if you choose not too.

Good luck! 

YaraC

Please remember that being over 35 makes you have a "higher risk" of some genetic defects it does not give you a "high risk". The over all risk is still relatively low unless you are well over 40.

That being said, no one can make you have any test you don't want. I am 38 and not having any invasive testing. Our NT scan came back with low genetic defect risk and  we are happily moving on with our pregnancy.

varkeyr

Just because you are over 35 does not mean you will have a baby with any defects. It just means you have a higher chance.Fact is there are just as many young women who have children born with defects as women over 35.Your doctor gave you the speech about the amino and CVS because he was protecting himself from being sued for malpractice.

I turned down any and all  invasive testing. The only test I did was the NST combined with the tri-screen. It came back in my favor.

elainej

Owl38:

I agree with PP,  you could do the (non-invasive) first tri screening/NT scan and see how the results look. Make sure to let your OB know that you want to do this in time for a CVS if necessary.

This sounds like a very good plan - probably how I will do it, too.

CheezeFace

Just to chime in so you know you aren't alone in your fears - I was terrified as well.  I'm not an educator but my BFF is a SPED teacher (she does resource, not IN) and seeing those kids, their struggles with tasks that most people take for granted, etc...really had me concerned.

Genetic testing is a very personal decision and one that you shouldn't let anyone pressure you into.  I decided on genetic testing only if my NT results came back with concerning numbers.  The main factor for me was a quality of life issue - if there was no quality of life outside the womb then hard decisions were going to have to be made.  Luckily, this isn't what happened for me.  My NT results looked good so I did not go ahead with any other testing.

Good luck.

Ximena M

Thank you lady's.  I know I shouldn't get worked up it is just a case of having seen the worst case of what could go wrong in when having a baby.  I waited to get pregnant so late because I knew I wasn't ready before. My doctor is very understanding and so far has not pressured me.  She is sending me for what she call first tri testing.  I think that it is like an NT test.  Having severe m/s also does not help.