There was one compelling reason why I opted out of genetic testing with my last pregnancy. The risk of miscarriage due to amniocentesis was the same as the risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome.
Amniocentesis is considered the gold standard, but it’s an invasive procedure with a 1/100 risk for miscarriage, the same risk for Downs. I quickly realized I would rather give birth to a baby with Downs than be responsible for a miscarriage.
Fortunately, now there is a new, totally non-invasive procedure for genetic testing of Down Syndrome. It only requires the maternal blood sample (basic blood …read more

 
 Male Down’s Syndrome with trisomy at chromosome 21
People with Down’s Syndrome are less likey to get solid tumor cancers, research from Johns Hopkins University has revealed.
Up to 95% of Down’s syndrome cases are caused by “trisomy 21″, in which the baby has three, rather than two, copies of chromosome 21, and the hundreds of genes it contains. Advances in medical management of Down’s Syndrome patients has increased life expectancy from around 30 years of age to over 60 years of age.  This increase led to some studies finding that adults with Down’s syndrome appear to have less chance of developing certain cancers …read more