Sir, - I would like to comment on the affirmation of amniocentesis in Kathryn Holmquist's article as "a valuable diagnostic tool for parents with a high risk of having a baby with an abnormality".
1. According to scientific risk charts, up to the maternal age of 38, the chances for miscarrying as a result of amniocentesis are just as high as those of having a baby with a genetic disorder: 1 in 100. The routine offering of this procedure to expectant mothers over 35 is both an unnecessary cause of anxiety for them and the cause of the death of over 300 healthy foetuses a year in Britain.
2. As Ms Holmquist herself points out, an "all clear" result does not mean that one will have a healthy baby. The real risks for mental handicap still are conditions in late pregnancy (placenta insufficiency) and the birth process itself (lack of oxygen during delivery). How would a mother who had consented to undergo the invasive procedure of amniocentesis feel if she got the hoped-for negative result and the baby was born disabled after all?
3. It can be doubted if prenatal screening actually increases choice for parents. The unintended side-effect of blood tests and amniocentesis as strongly recommended practices may be an increased pressure on women vulnerable in their pregnancies to go for a termination if the result is positive. In a society unwilling to live with human frailty and imperfection, it actually decreases choice. It signals that is is entirely the parents' decision to accept this child and they should not reckon with the support of society for anything less than perfect children.
4. The decision of couples is a very personal one and demands full compassion. But part of their problem may not be the mental handicap as such, the degree of which cannot be predicted, but the rejection their child and they will face because of their decision to accept it. Instead of letting society off the hook by forcing parents into a desperate decision, all our efforts should go into creating a culture that accepts the basic neediness of the human condition, ready to support in solidarity each of us when we need it. - Yours, etc.,
Prof Maureen Junkerkenny, Theological Studies, Trinity College, Dublin 2.