In other cases it provides information for making the birth of the baby safer for mother and child. But any additional information turned up via routine first or second trimester genetic testing is almost always useless in this regard. Instead such tests are, it seems, most commonly done to help the prospective parents decide whether or not to abort, depending on the baby's health. I find such thinking tragic. But there are no promises to be given about whether or not the baby will be born safely or will be healthy and active at six months, two years or 20.
Life is fraught with wonder - and uncertainty.
And no test can promise us that we as parents will be protected from heartache. The simple truth is that to become a mom or dad is to become vulnerable as never before. Amniocentesis, even done by the most skilled of hands, causes a miscarriage in about one in 200 procedures according to the established medical literature. Chorionic villus sampling, a newer test in which tissue is taken from the placenta, is even more dangerous. Even the simple AFP blood test presents problems.