yes or no screening for Down syndrome

What I know is that you first get a probability calculation as the result. Based on a nuchal translucency scan, medical history, and your age.
If that probability is very high, they do further tests. I think you can get a lot more out of a blood test.
By the way, it's also for 2 other serious abnormalities.
But maybe someone who has actually done the screening can tell you more.
We chose not to do it. Suppose you know there's an abnormality, we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy, but we would constantly wonder how severe it is, because you wouldn't know yet.. A disabled child would be welcome in our family too.

We'll do it anyway, mostly for my husband's peace of mind. He had a dream about the syndrome a while back.

We both didn't do it. In our family, no one really did, so you don't have an increased risk either. And like you said, it does cost quite a bit, yeah. My parents also think it's nonsense, they call it modern money-grabbing haha. In their time they didn't have those kinds of tests and just let nature take its course. Besides, they can see any abnormalities at the 20-week ultrasound anyway, and you still have the option to terminate if it looks bad. But we also think it's welcome anyway! And then there's the fact that the result isn't a guarantee. There are people who were told they had an increased risk and still had a healthy baby, so all that stress and worry for nothing! And there are also people where it looked all healthy and it turned out wrong at birth. Just imagine what kind of stress that is when it doesn't give 100% guarantee. So all in all, we just let the test pass by.

We didn't do it either, for 3 reasons: we wouldn't have an abortion if it turned out we were having a baby with an increased chance of Down syndrome, you might worry for nothing for the rest of your pregnancy because you get an elevated result and it doesn't turn out at birth, and because my husband and I don't have extra risk for this. Oh yeah, not really a reason but we were on vacation between April 11 and April 13 and the option wasn't available anyway. (Yes, through a private clinic in Amsterdam-Zouth at €700 per consultation...)

I agree with what Beertje says; think carefully about what you're going to do with the result.

Good luck with your decision!

You can only make this choice together. Do you already know what you're going to do? My husband and I also chose not to have any tests done. We had waited years for our little one, and regardless of how or what, our baby was welcome. Just like Beertje also said, I really had the feeling that everything was okay and that the tests weren't necessary.

I think it's so brave of you to have had that test done. In my circle, people also just react with "a disabled child is welcome too."

I realize I can only hope and pray that I get to have a baby. But my partner and I do want to do testing if it turns out to be a success in the end.

He already has two children with a woman who has a mild intellectual disability. One has a form of autism, and the other is also delayed in their development in several areas.

I love them so much. And I take care of them half the time because they need a lot of extra support that their mother can't provide.

But having another disabled child seems like it wouldn't lead to the best situation... I know this might sound harsh.

so glad you guys found a decision you felt good about
and even better that all the results were good, congratulations
enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, you're already halfway there!

Marlies, this just shows that it's really a very personal choice that no one else should judge. Even though this does happen a lot. No one can look behind another person's front door, and every situation is different. Good luck with getting pregnant, hopefully soon!

A friend of mine was also hesitating. They ended up just doing the standard test (blood test and nuchal fold). Everything was pretty okay, good pregnancy, and in the end she gave birth to a boy with Down syndrome.