The Works of God

From “Race, Gender, and Genetic Technologies: A New Reproductive Dystopia?” by Dorothy Roberts in Signs: The Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 2009, v. 34, no. 4, p. 792:

Brian Skotko’s survey of 985 mothers who received postnatal (after birth) diagnoses of Down syndrome for their children similarly discovered that many of the mothers were chastised by health care professionals for not undergoing prenatal testing (emphasis mine):

“Right after [my child] was born, the doctor flat out told my husband that this could have been prevented or discontinued at an earlier stage of the pregnancy,” wrote one mother who had a child with DS in 2000. A mother who had a child in 1993 recalled, “I had a resident in the recovery room when I learned that my daughter had DS. When I started to cry, I overheard him say, ‘What did she expect? She refused prenatal testing.’” . . . Another mother reported, from her experience in 1997, “The attending neonatologist, rather than extending some form of compassion, lambasted us for our ignorance in not doing prior testing and for bringing this burden to society—noting the economical, educational, and social hardships he would bring.” Regarding a postnatal visit, a mother who had a child in 1992 wrote, “[My doctor] stressed ‘next time’ the need for amniocentesis so that I could ‘choose to terminate.’” (2005, 70–71)

As a result of such pressure, many pregnant women now view genetic testing as a requirement of responsible mothering (Harmon 2007).

Again we must be clear: there is nothing wrong with receiving genetic testing for the purpose of serving the needs of the child.  What is assumed above, however, is that when an ‘anomaly’ is discovered, the child will be aborted.

Let us individually work to change those assumptions, for the sake of the child, the parents, and the medical community that includes too many members who have lost their way.