They Scheduled an Abortion When Told Their Baby Had Trisomy 18, But the Prenatal Test Was Wrong
27/05/2015 LifeNews.com
Parents who find out that their unborn baby will have Trisomy 18, or Edward’s Syndrome sometimes hear that their child will be “incompatible with life” because the condition is often fatal. In fact, only 10% of children born with the condition survive to see their first birthday.
Can you imagine receiving such news and then finding out the test that screened your baby was wrong? Well, that is exactly what happened to Stacie and Lincoln Chapman.
According to NBC News, Stacie took a test called Maternit21, which is a DNA blood test that promises accuracy 97.6% of the time when screening for Trisomy 18. Unfortunately, after finding out that their child had the condition, Stacie scheduled an abortion because she didn’t want her baby to suffer.
Stacie said that her doctor explained to them more about Trisomy 18 and it’s probable outcome.
She said, “She explained to me what that was, and how horrific it is, and how it’s not compatible with life. And that most likely would be a stillborn if the baby did survive to full term. It would survive maybe hours, maybe days, she said. It was a very small percentage of children with this who live to their first birthday.”
However, the night before the abortion her Ob-Gyn called and asked her to wait because there was a chance the screening wasn’t accurate. She explained that the test was very new and she shouldn’t make a decision until she had an amniocentesis test, which couldn’t be performed for another eight weeks.
Thankfully, Stacie and Lincoln decided to take their doctors advice and now they have a healthy 18-month-old son. The amniocentesis test revealed that their baby was perfectly healthy and didn’t have Trisomy 18. Massachusetts Ob-Gyn, Dr. Michael Greene, explained that it’s very important that doctors differentiate screening tests like Maternit21 from diagnostic tests. He said, “They are not diagnostic tests. And it’s very important that both providers and patients understand that before any irrevocable action is taken on the basis of these tests.”
Lincoln and Stacie can’t imagine their life without their son, Sam, which is why they’ve decided to share their story. Stacie said, “It’s not easy to tell the world ‘we made an appointment to have an abortion.’ But if we can just have one woman who got that positive result not make a decision until she has (an) amnio, that’s why we’re doing this.”
As LifeNews previously reported, although Trisomy 18 is a very serious and sometimes deadly condition, there are babies that have survived passed infancy. For example, Rick Santorum’s daughter, Bella, has Trisomy 18 but recently turned seven. Even though Bella’s condition has been challenging for the Santorum family, it has also strengthened their pro-life beliefs.
Earlier this year, in an interview with the Washington Post, Rick Santorum admitted that until Bella was five months old he was convinced that she was going to die and thought the best thing he could do was to treat her differently and not love her as he had his six older children. He believed that it wouldn’t hurt as much to lose her if he had his guard up. Later, however, he realized that was wrong. He said, “I remember holding that finger, looking at her and realizing what I had done. I had seen her as less of a person.”
Now the Santorums share Bella’s story to encourage other families to choose life even if the odds are stacked against them. They said, “Bella reminds us that every person matters, and we say she’s a great teacher of souls because she really is.”