Down Syndrome Education International (based in Portsmouth, UK) has published an article examining the UK statistics for spontaneous abortion of unaffected babies linked to diagnostic testing for Down syndrome. The media has shown considerable interest, because the article looks at both the affected and unaffected pregnancies, whereas most studies focus only on the success of identifying those with Down syndrome (and some other conditions.
It raises numerous issues: about how well informed parents are in making decision about prenatal testing, about continuation or termination of pregnancies; about whether Down syndrome should be considered grounds for termination of pregnancy.
The full report is here: www.down-syndrome.org/editorials/2087/
The DownsEd news release and information is here: www.downsed.org/media/releases/2008/09/
A UK TV News program broadcast a lengthy item on it. Click on the following URL for links to the Channel 4 TV segment and to a subsequent article by Dominic Lawson, who was interviewed, published in The Independent: http://blogs.downsed.org/downsed/2008/09/uk-channel-4-ne.html
BBC News report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7620742.stm
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