This comment is kinda in relation to the previous post.

I wonder if the increased acceptance and use of prenatal screening/testing leads to the greater perception of disability/illness being completely controllable and preventable. When conditions are not detected, it can lead to greater distress because parents might believe that they have done all the right things, had all the screens etc but still this thing has happened to their child/family.

Here is a story to show that no matter what tests/scans are done, sometimes stuff just happens and can't be controlled: A close friend had a genetic/chromosomal condition which her baby had a 50% chance of inheriting. After much thought, she decided to have an amnio to test for the condition in her baby. The results came back as the baby NOT having inheriting the condition. By the time results came back, the mother had decided that the results would not influence her actions, but she was nevertheless pleased at the results.

During the baby's birth, the baby became distressed and (long story short) was born not breathing with the cord around her neck. Resuscitation was performed and the baby was put on life support. Baby spent a week on life support. Seizures occurred over the first 2 days. Life support was removed, and the family was advised that they didn't think baby would survive. Now, the baby had different ideas and is now doing pretty good. Baby has cerebral palsy, but is feeding, breathing, crawling (exceeding early predictions), on her way to walking and is just gorgeous.

The point of this story is just to say that prenatal screening only focusses on certain conditions, and there are other conditions/occurrences that can't be detected. As a parent, you can't 'protect' your child/family from all disabilities/illnesses. These things are part of life, and although you might not choose to have them occur, the way you choose to respond is up to you.

Having kids is a risky business, you might get lucky and get a healthy one who sleeps through the night, is a 'perfect' child, gets straight A's and will care for you when you are old. However, there are lots of points at which this can story can differ, and in the scheme of it the conditions picked up in newborn screening are only minor issues.