Prenatal Screening for Down's Syndrome — A Search for the Family's Values

Abstract
Since the introduction of amniocentesis for the prenatal detection of genetic diseases, there has been a progressive refinement of the criteria used to determine who should be offered the test. Initially, amniocentesis was offered to women considered to be at high risk for having a pregnancy affected by Down's syndrome solely on the basis of age, because of the high rates of miscarriage associated with the procedure.Maternal age by itself is not an efficient screening marker for Down's syndrome: its sensitivity is too low. Only 20 percent of infants with Down's syndrome are born to women 35 years of . . .