Opinion: Children with Down syndrome live good lives. Prenatal testing shouldn’t nudge parents toward pregnancy termination
As the parent of a son with Down syndrome, it troubles me to think that prenatal tests for it contribute to the stigmatization of people like Aaron.
New genetic technologies. Abortion. Who gets to be born and who doesn’t. Ethical issues at the beginning of life are some of the things I think about as a bioethicist. They took on new significance for me when prenatal testing revealed to my wife and me that our baby would have Down syndrome. Three months later, Aaron was born. As I wrote recently in the New York Times, it was a joyous occasion for us. Now 9 years old, Aaron approaches life with an infectious smile and laughter.
Parents like us. Most such prospective parents choose instead to terminate the pregnancy.
