[ISUKappa]

I don't know. I would like to think that I would keep my baby, no matter what. Even now I wonder how I would react if I found out something was wrong with this baby. But I can't say how I would choose unless I were in that situation.

My niece was born with a life-threatening defect that required her to have intensive surgery two days after she was born. She's now four months old and doing well. Her quality of life should be that of/near to a normal, healthy human being. But that's not always the case. In her situation, my sister and BIL had no idea anything was wrong until Leah was born and babies born with her condition usually have about a 50-60% chance of life.

Tests such as an amniocentisis and chronic villae sampling can say definitively if there is a chromosomal problem (Down's syndrome or an unbalanced translocation) but they can't predict what kind of life that child will have. And ultrasounds and blood tests (AFP, etc..) are so imprecise, any abnormalities found could be nothing when the child is born and others may be missed completely.

For some parents any time spent with their child, whether it be a few hours or years, is worth the 9-10 months of pregnancy and labor.