MOTHER WITH A DOWN'S SYNDROME CHILD: 'WHY WOULDN'T I WANT ANOTHER CHILD EXACTLY LIKE HER?'

A pregnant woman who already has one child with Down’s syndrome is refusing to have her unborn baby screened for the condition.

The mother, named only as Emma, said she would be happy to have another child just like her daughter and slammed doctors who ‘pressure’ women to terminate babies with the condition.

She said that to protect herself from attempts to persuade her to have an abortion she made sure her medical records clearly stated she did not wish to be screened. But despite this, doctors still asked if she wanted the test after they found out her daughter Scarlett had Down’s.

Speaking to a BBC documentary when she was 28-and-a-half weeks pregnant, Emma said: ‘The GP told me they will want to screen me nice and early to make sure this baby doesn’t also have it.

‘It is hurtful, I love Scarlett, she’s amazing. Why wouldn’t I want another child exactly like her?

‘It totally comes from a lack of understanding of what it is actually like to have a child with Down’s syndrome. For me I don’t feel like the screening would really tell me much. I have experience of having a child with Down’s syndrome.’

After initial conversations with doctors, Emma told her midwife she did not want to be screened, and did not want anyone to discuss the issue any further with her. Yet she said consultants still insisted on talking about screening even though they had seen the note on her records.

She added: ‘[A consultant] said “I did see that but I wanted to talk to you about it anyway”.’

It has sparked a fierce debate surrounding a new, non-invasive screening test which tells pregnant women with 99 per cent accuracy whether their baby is likely to have Down’s. The test is known as NIPT and costs £280 to £900 at private clinics but is expected to be introduced on the NHS. Some fear it will lead to a rise in abortions, as nine out of ten British women terminate their pregnancies after receiving a positive result for Down’s.

Professor Lyn Chitty, who works in genetics at Great Ormond Street and is pioneering the test, said that pilot studies did not suggest abortions would rise. She added: ‘We found there are a lot of women who are using the non-invasive prenatal test to find out whether the baby has Down’s syndrome, inform themselves and carry on with the pregnancy. If you look at our statistics, it will not significantly change the live birth rate.’

The BBC 2 programme A World Without Down’s Syndrome?, to be aired tonight, was made by the actress Sally Phillips who has a son with the condition (picture below). But some campaigners accused Miss Phillips of making women feel guilty about terminations.

Post credit: Mail Online