More babies being born with Down syndrome in Britain

From AFP. And Marie Claire magazine in the UK says more parents are opting to keep their babies born with Down syndrome. The NY Times parenting blog also comments on the British documentary on Down syndrome.

LONDON — More babies are being born with Down's syndrome than before pre-natal screening for the condition was introduced in Britain at the end of the 1980s, reports citing new research said Nov. 24.

Parents appear more willing to bring a baby with the condition into the world than they used to be, research by the Down's Syndrome Association showed.

The association surveyed 1,000 parents to find out why they had gone ahead with a pregnancy after receiving a positive test result for the disorder.

Many parents are taking the decision because those affected by the syndrome are more accepted in society today and their quality of life has improved, according to the survey.

Widespread screening for Down's syndrome was introduced in 1989, with the number of babies born with the condition in Britain each year falling from 717 to 594 at the start of that decade. Since 2000, the birth rate has increased, reaching 749 in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, the survey said.

Figures from the National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register show that the proportion of new-born children with Down's syndrome rose by around 15 percent between 2000 and 2006. Around one in every 1,000 babies born has Down's syndrome, an incurable genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra chromosome.

Physical effects include short stature, heart defects, poor sight and hearing, while those with the syndrome also have moderate to severe degrees of learning disability, although the level of disability varies.

A blood test or ultrasound scan is used to tell if a pregnant woman is at risk of having a child with Down's, which can be followed by more invasive and definitive tests that take samples of fluid from the womb or placental tissue.

The association conducted the survey with the BBC to find out why so many parents were choosing to have Down's children despite the availability of the pre-natal screening. The findings will be featured in a documentary to be broadcast on BBC Radio.

"We are all very surprised by this," Carol Boys, chief executive of the association, said on the documentary.

"It wasn't what any of us working in the field would have anticipated and it seems to show that more parents are thinking more carefully before opting for pre-natal screening and termination - that being born with Down's syndrome is being seen in a different light today," she said.