Ethics - Prenatal and Living Trisomy Experiences have a voice - New Study

Healthcare NEWS Genetic Medical Ethics - Bioethics Prenatal Testing Screening Trisomy 13, 18

“Our children are not a diagnosis”: the family experience of trisomy 13 and 18 

By Keith Barrington - neonatologist and clinical researcher

Posted on 23 July 2012 

Annie Janvier, Barb Farlow and Ben Wilfond have just published a rather disturbing study. At least I feel a bit disturbed. (Janvier A, Farlow B, Wilfond BS: The experience of families with children with trisomy 13 and 18 in social networks. Pediatrics 2012.) It is one of those studies that challenges many assumptions. They set up an internet questionnaire and contacted parents of infants with trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 who belonged to various internet-based support groups...

...So here are some guidelines to use when talking with parents who have received a diagnosis, prenatal or postnatal, guidelines that you could develop as a result of these families’ reports of their experiences:  READ MORE...

Trisomy - Babies Born With Congenital Anomalies Enrich Families

Trisomy - Babies Born With Congenital Anomalies Enrich Families

Photo Noah's Never Ending Rainbow  (facebook) The mission of Noah's Never Ending Rainbow, a national Trisomy organization, is to educate, advocate, raise public awareness, promote strategic alliances.



Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18 Babies Born With Congenital 

Anomalies Reportedly Enrich Families

HUFFPOST Living 

An ethicist who was not involved in the study says the findings point to a need to change the messages given to parents-to-be and new parents facing the reality of a baby with T13 or T18, as the conditions are called for short.

"This study should have us stop and think about what decisions, for which children, have been made on the basis of misinformation," says Francoise Baylis, a professor of bioethics and philosophy at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"The negative narrative needs to change. Parents' experiential knowledge matters and should be available to expectant parents and new parents."

The study, by ethicists and the mother of a child born with Trisomy 13, is published in this week's issue of the journal Pediatrics.  READ MORE