Over the past decade, the use of prenatal genetic testing for detecting rare disorders has emerged along with many ethical and societal issues. This medical discovery was created to help expectant parents by informing them if their child will have a serious disorder and providing them with the option to terminate the pregnancy to avoid the stress and costs of having that child. This use of testing has become highly controversial in the past few years between people who see it as beneficial and those who see it as harmful. There are many valid points on both sides of the argument that will be addressed throughout this paper, as well as the ways people suggest that the testing process should be changed.

Prenatal genetic tests can be used to inform the expectant parents whether or not their fetus has an aneuploidy, a condition when they have a missing or extra chromosome, or to inform them if the fetus actually has a specific genetic disorder (Lippman 1991). A few of the genetic disorders that these tests can diagnose are cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, Tay-Sachs disease, muscular dystrophy and down syndrome. There are some health issues that can be treated as a result of prenatal tests. For example, Physicians have had some success in treating immunodeficiency syndromes by fetal bone marrow transplantation (Gates 1993). However, there are also many serious disorders that these tests detect that cannot be helped in any way. The incurable disorders are the ones that pertain to the ethical issues because they force the parents to make the decision of either terminating or continuing their pregnancy. 

The issue addressed in this essay is whether or not prenatal genetic testing should be used to detect disorders that are incurable. The main reasons that these tests should not be used for incurable disorders are because there have been cited cases of incorrect results on different accounts, it is discrimination of those with a genetic disorder, and it has a negative psychosocial impact on the expectant families. 

Prenatal genetic testing was created in order to help people have healthy children. Some argue that it is justified to decide to terminate the pregnancy if it is perceived that the expectant child would suffer a poor quality of life.  However, there have been reports of parents who received false test results and an incorrect diagnosis of a disorder for their expectant child. In these cases, parents could be choosing to terminate a pregnancy that actually would’ve been a perfectly healthy child or could end up having a child with a disorder when they were told it would be healthy.

According to NBC News, positive results for rare disorders can be incorrect approximately 50% of the time and a recent investigation found hundreds of women are aborting fetuses based on this new generation of testing. The same NBC News article shares an example of real life story of a couple, Stacie and Lincoln Chapman, who had a noninvasive blood test done which the doctor had claimed to be 99% accurate. The result of the test indicated the fetus had Trisomy 18, w a genetic condition which is fatal in most cases.  The couple decided to continue the pregnancy and learned, after another screening, the initial test was incorrect and the child would likely be born healthy (James 2014). Fortunately, in this case, a healthy pregnancy was not terminated. This brings the issue to the forefront of other incorrect prenatal testing resulting in abortions of many other healthy pregnancies. There's also a chance the screening will not pick up a chromosomal abnormality when there is one (Nierneberg 2017). Instead of achieving the goal of helping parents and children, these newer tests may be causing the decision to terminate healthy pregnancies under the false notion they have a potentially serious or life threatening genetic disorder.

Prenatal genetic testing is also morally problematic because it expresses discriminatory attitudes about a disabling trait and those who carry it (Parens 2003). When doctors give parents a positive result for a genetic disorder in their fetus, they see it as helping them by providing them with options. The opinion that is not often considered in this situation is the one of those who lives with these disorders every day, along with their families and supporters. People who have these disabilities feel that this testing supports the tendency toward letting a single trait stand for the whole person (Parens 2003). This idea sends a hurtful message to society that human beings are reducible to a one “undesirable” trait. An argument made against that statement is that it is assuming a selective abortion based on prenatal testing is morally problematic in a way that other means of preventing a disability are not, such as taking medication to decreases the likelihood of developing a disease but has other harmful side effects. However, abortion does not protect the fetus in any way; it prevents the disability by simply killing it (Parens 2003). Fighting against disability discrimination is not an argument against being prochoice, but objecting to a specific way of using abortion.  

Another consideration about prenatal genetic testing is the psychosocial impact it has on the families. Receiving news of serious disorder has a different effect on each individual. Personal factors, family values, community and cultural beliefs will influence the response a 

person has to this issue (Genetic Alliance 2010). It is often recommended for parents who have received positive results for a genetic disorder to seek a counselor or psychologist to help them cope with this news and decision to keep or terminate the pregnancy.  When the parent does not have knowledge ahead of time of a genetic disorder, their only choice is to raise the child to the best of their ability. This eliminates the pressure of deciding whether or not to terminate and allows them to accept the result. There can be social pressures around the parents as well, since abortion is a highly controversial topic that many people feel strongly against. Prochoice individuals feel that it is morally defensible for the mother to decide that she doesn’t want a child at a specific time because, for example, she is too young to mother well or because children are not a part of her life plan. However, when it comes to making a decision to abort an otherwise-wanted fetus, the morality is questioned (Parens 2003). 

I believe Prenatal genetic testing should not be used to detect incurable disorders because there have been incorrect results on different accounts resulting in decision by parent to terminate healthy pregnancies that would’ve been otherwise wanted. Also, I feel it is discrimination against people in our society living with genetic disorders, as they are stereotyped into negative role while they may have a productive and happy life regardless of their disorder. Another factor against detecting incurable disorders is the potential stress and negative psychosocial impact on the expectant families.  Parents who are given results that may or may not be accurate are forced into decisions that will affect them and their families for the rest of their lives (Reinders 2000). 

The problems with these genetic tests should mainly be a concern for doctors and people who are having, or wish to have children. Expectant parents may be offered these genetic tests without fulling understanding the impact of using them. Doctors and medical professionals should also be concerned with this because of the high failure rate of the tests. Their job is essentially to help people but these tests could be harming their patients more than it is benefiting them. doing more harm to their patients than good. The negative impacts that these tests have are termination of healthy pregnancies, discrimination against genetic disorders, and psychological issues for the families. The best way to prevent these problems is simply to not use prenatal genetic testing for disorders that have no known cure. These advanced types of prenatal tests may be more useful in the future once we have discovered different ways to help treat these disorders. 

While new medical technology is usually beneficial in assisting with diagnosis and prevention, prenatal genetic testing for incurable disorders is an advanced technology which can do more harm than good.  In some cases, these specific tests are causing termination of healthy pregnancies due to a large percentage rate of incorrect results. The parents of the expectant child, when given negative prenatal genetic test results, are forced into psychological and psychosocial stress which can result in a crisis for the entire family and unnecessary trauma. Furthermore, this testing sends a message to society that a human being’s life can be reduced to a single trait that they or their parents are unable to control.
