The decision of whether or not to pursue prenatal genetic testing is up to you. Your doctor and genetic counselor are available to you with all of the information you need to make an informed decision that fits with your beliefs, values, needs, and personality. Your healthcare providers should also be there to support you in any decision you make regarding genetic screening in your pregnancy.
The following are some questions that may be helpful to consider if you are on the fence about whether to have cfDNA (or any other) prenatal screening:
- How would you feel if results indicated a higher risk for a genetic condition?
- Would you consider amniocentesis?
- If not, would you be ok waiting until the baby is born to know for sure if the condition is present if your prenatal cfDNA screening result returns high risk?
- Do you think this information would help you feel more prepared?
- Would you consider doing anything differently if you knew the baby had a genetic condition such as prepare, consider placing baby for adoption, or consider not continuing the pregnancy?
- Does more information with the possibility of uncertainty make you anxious?
- Some women prefer definitive answers and since prenatal cfDNA screening cannot provide that, they may choose to go straight to a more definitive test, such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis.
- Some women may feel comfortable with their chance of a genetic condition or are confident that, even if the baby did have a genetic condition, it wouldn’t alter their pregnancy plans. Or they may prefer not to face the decision of whether or not to have an amniocentesis if the prenatal cfDNA screening comes back high risk. In these cases some women may decide not to undergo any prenatal screening or diagnostic testing.
Click here to learn more about scheduling a genetic counseling appointment for pregnancy-related questions.
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Last updated on Aug 21st, 2019
