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AFP Testing - Did you do it?

Knot HeatherKnot Heather member
in 2nd Trimester

I'm coming up on my next appointment soon, and at this appointment we will be discussing AFP testing and whether or not I want to have it done.

On the one hand, it's a blood test so it's pretty simple to do.

On the other hand, the results are just risk percentages, and not conclusive one way or the other.

I'm concerned about getting a "bad" result and then worrying (or obsessing) over it, when the reality of it is that things are probably fine.

I've had the NT scan and the prick your finger bloodwork done already and that all came back fine.

What did you decide to do and why?

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Re: AFP Testing - Did you do it?

  • wec5473wec5473
    We just went straight for the amnio. I'm an old hag and I had complications with my first pregnancy and I wanted to be prepared for any outcome.
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  • rouge411rouge411

    We didn't have it done... we knew we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy if we found out something was wrong, and my doctor said there was nothing they could do to fix anything in utero.

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  • The_Jen626The_Jen626

    I don't think we did that test.  I haven't had any blood drawn since my 6w appt, and we declined the NT scan.

    One of my girlfriends did all the testing and came back with a 1:80 chance of Downs, she freaked out and stressed the whole pregnancy, and the baby came out just fine.

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  • PlannedChaosPlannedChaos
    I skipped it.  Our high risk OB was pissed at me, but my regular OB's nurse said if we saw anything questionable on the 20 wk ultrasound, we could ask for it then.  We didn't see anything, so I feel like we made the right choice.  It's not liek we'd abort anyway.
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  • Phelia325Phelia325 member
    i'm going to get the afp testing done.  i already started with the first trimester screening, which was stressful...but i'm a need to know kind of person. 
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  • jrjscjrjsc
    We did it - b/c it was covered by insurance. The results wouldn't have changed anything re the pregnancy/baby for us though.
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  • TeamK07TeamK07 member

    We decided not to do it.  There seems to be a high false positive rate, which if it came back positive you would most likely have to have an amnio.  We had the NT scan done - everything came back okay and we decided that was all the testing we needed. I didn't want to have to stress unecessarily over results that may or may not be true and have to have an amnio if it wasn't necessary. 

    DS 3.7.09
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    DD 4.1.11
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  • MarriedBestFriendsMarriedBestFriends member
    Yep. I did the NT scan and the Quad screen (and tons of genetic testing). I'm a numbers girl who likes to be prepared and have the most information possible about what's going on in my body. 
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  • Mrs.2MommyMrs.2Mommy
    We did not.  Our doctor told us about the high false positive that then requires an amnio to get more precise results.  We know we are going to go through with the pregnancy regardless so why worry about something that we can't change!
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  • jzk2007jzk2007
    We did the NT scan and followed up with the quad screen. Even though the NT results were very low risk, we decided, since we had started the testing and with me being 34, to go ahead and do the quad screen. We wanted to have all the possible information so we could then decide if an amnio was something we needed to consider. Luckily everything came back with flying colors so now we know no further, more invasive, tests are needed.
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  • oliviasprettymommyoliviasprettymommy
    we did it because dh wanted to put his mind at ease
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  • LWrightLWright

    I did blood testing at 12 and 16 weeks.  I did it because at 12 weeks there are still options available and a certain result would have led us to do the CSV test and we may have opted to terminiate the pregnancy based on the results.  It is really a personal decision and I think you have to think about a few things:

     1.  Would you get the more invasive testing based on the blood results?

     2.  Would you terminiate if the more invasive results showed a major defect

     3.  Would you continue the pregnancy either way but can deal with a potential false positive?

     This is a very personal decision so don't let your doctor pressure you into doing something you don't want to do.  Do what feels right for you and your hubby.

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  • JOEBunnyJOEBunny member

    Yes, because I wanted to know.  The most asshat comment on this board is." we knew we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy if we found out something was wrong." 

    This is a lovely thought, but the only people who can say it for sure are the people who give birth to kids with serious problems, like the mom whose baby only lived 16 minutes, which they knew from the 20 week ultrasound.

     What this whole board is missing is that 85% of children with serious birth defects are aborted.  I have no idea what I would do, but I would rather do it as early as possible and not at 22-23 weeks, which is when a lot of these fetuses end up being aborted.

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