Prenatal Diagnosis in Service of Mankind

Prenatal Diagnosis means diagnosis before birth. The fundamental philosophy of prenatal diagnosis is to provide reassurance to couples at risk that they may selectively have unaffected children even if their perspective risk for having defective offspring might be unacceptably high. The incidence of birth defects or genetic disorders in pregnancy is approximately 3 %. Some will be found to have congenital or genetic defect during childhood or early adulthood. Recent advances in technology have enabled the development of a wide range of methods for prenatal diagnosis. The desire of every couple is to have a ‘perfect’ healthy normal baby. Prenatal testing and its perceived benefits have been in focus for a long time. There has been widespread debate and passionate arguments on both sides. In India, where the law allows termination of pregnancy before 20 weeks, there are several prenatal tests that are available only after 20 weeks. This dichotomy produces considerable anxiety and stress to would be parents who may need such information within the legal timeline for pregnancy termination.