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[smmaho]

Hi all I thought I'd post my comment here because I think it got lost when the second chat opened up.

My OB has given me the choice of testing for DS the traditional way (NT blood test and ultrasound) or the new NIPT test (harmony test) which is done from ten weeks and is a simple blood test that has a 99% accuracy and also tells you the gender however it's pricey.

I was wondering what others thoughts are or if you have had one test done or plan on getting one done. DH things we should just do the traditional test as the new test is an awful lot of money but has very accurate results. If I had a baby with Down syndrome I don't think I would terminate so it's not about that, it's just about preparing myself for the pregnancy.

Would love to hear your thoughts 😊

[Living_The_Dream]

I have only ever had the traditional test, when I was in the May DIG quite a few did it. My doc didn't even mention it. Only one person in the DIG had to do it again because they lost their results or they didn't get enough of the baby's DNA in her blood to test properly they need 2% or something? By the time they got the 2nd set of results she was 20 weeks so she wasn't going to do much with the results unless it was terminal by that point! She had to pay the $400 odd twice too! My babies have never had any chromosome abnomalities so far so will prob just do the standard test but if anything looks off look into further testing.

Edited by Living_The_Dream, 25 February 2016 - 06:37 AM.

[Morton-89]

I plan on just getting them to check the markers at my twelve week scan and if there are any markers I might look into getting further testing. I figure whatever happens unless my baby is going to spend its life in hospital and not have a good quality of life I would never terminate anyway so the results probably aren't going to do much for me anyway. Apart from being able to research a little more

[dreamfizz]

I'll be doing the NIPT test. I don't have any reasons other than it's more information for me so I am well prepared. I'm an anxious/impatient person by nature so I like to know what's going on.

[ChilliDog]

I had the Harmony test done with my DS and will have it done again with belly Bub.
I'm over 40 so have an increased risk of issues so like to go into the pregnancy with as much knowledge as possible. Also it doesn't just test for downs, it tests for other genetic issues as well.
And as an extra bonus we can fine out gender with 100% certainty, I loved knowing nice and early we were having a boy and can't wait to find out again.

[Natttmumm]

I would pay the money and do the better test. That being said it wasn't around when I had mine - gee I wish it was though

[Possum88]

Im not having either test. I didnt with dd. Just had the blood test (if that came back with abnormal results i would have had the scan but it was unnecessary money we dont need to spend). My gp did mention both tests and the accuracy of the NIPT but i dont think i could bring myself to terminate and we dont want to know the sex so it suits us best not to have it.

Edit to say i didnt have the test with dd because we couldnt get an appointment anywhere to have the scan in the time frame.

Edited by Possum88, 25 February 2016 - 01:11 PM.

[maybeonemore]

Id like the harmony test but im not sure I can afford it

[Wrennie]

We had the Genesyte test (like the Harmony) at 10 weeks. It was pricey (about $400) but we thought it was worth it for peace of mind).

We didn't want to know the sex and warned our OB so she wouldn't divulge it.

Unfortunately we didn't have a happy ending and found out our little boy had Downs. She did tell us the sex but at that point I didn't care that she had said. I wanted to know.

By the time we found out we were 12 weeks. We were sent for genetic counselling and a date was booked for an ultrasound and amnio to confirm (as despite the chance of a false positive being minisule they still check).
Our ultrasound showed he was already gone, so there was no need for an amnio.

So we would have found out at our NT test that he was gone - but we wouldn't have known that he had genetic abnormalities and we wouldn't have even known we had a boy. It was a truly awful, awful time (and my second miscarriage) but if we are lucky enough to get pg again, we will do the test again without a doubt.

Edited by Wrennie, 25 February 2016 - 02:56 PM.

[cfwact]

We are just doing the standard 12 week scan and blood test. I would only do the more expensive testing if the standard tests indicated something. Last time the standard tests put bub at a 1:20000+ chance of something being wrong so I was happy with those odds.

[Joan10]

Hubby and I are choosing to just do the NT test again - like we did with our daughter. No real reason, apart from the fact we wouldn't terminate anyway if the results came back differently to what we were hoping. That being said, I have nothing against anyone who chooses either test for whatever reason. I do agree it would be awesome to get more information and I guess it would help prepare - but we were happy with the usual way anyway, so will most likely do that again.

I love that we are all talking about these tests now - makes that second trimester feel so much closer!

[Fright bat]

There's a big discussion about this is the September DIG, which should answer all questions. I won't re type everything I wrote here.

[smmaho]

Thanks for all your responses who know choosing which test to have done would be such a hard decision haha. I am an overthinker by nature and put a lot of pressure on myself in making the right decision however who knows what th right decision is. I didn't know I would have to make a decision about testing so early on.

Thanks fright bat, will definately go and check it out.

[Lou-bags]

smmaho, on 25 February 2016 - 04:22 PM, said:

however who knows what th right decision is.

There isn't one! It's one of the hardest things I've found coming to terms with as a parent (starting in pregnancy). That there isn't one right answer. You can't just look something up and go "oh, so that's what I'm supposed to do, righto". It's always this balancing act about what's best for your family, you, your child, your specific circumstances! So hard!

FWIW, I'm in the Sept DIG, and found that thread really great.

I've/we've decided to do the traditional NT screening (bloods and scan) and then perhaps consider the NIPT (and amnio later if necessary) if the results aren't favourable.

Good luck deciding!

[smmaho]

Lou-bags, on 25 February 2016 - 04:26 PM, said:

There isn't one! It's one of the hardest things I've found coming to terms with as a parent (starting in pregnancy). That there isn't one right answer. You can't just look something up and go "oh, so that's what I'm supposed to do, righto". It's always this balancing act about what's best for your family, you, your child, your specific circumstances! So hard!

FWIW, I'm in the Sept DIG, and found that thread really great.

I've/we've decided to do the traditional NT screening (bloods and scan) and then perhaps consider the NIPT (and amnio later if necessary) if the results aren't favourable.

Good luck deciding!

Haha thank you. My mind is very structured and I like things that have an answer however I should probably get used to not knowing all the answers because somehow I don't think pregnancy or parenthood is going to be straight forward! Lol

[FeralRebelWClaws]

Yeah one of the big threads did say that the NIPT is not recommended to be done on it's own at the moment. So recommendations are for the NIPT AND the scan, but you could skip the bloods (which are the cheap bit!)

After all my reading up on it and talking to my FS/OB, I will just go with the NT scan and bloods. Maybe if the results aren't favourable then I'd do the NIPT. I don't want to know the sex before around 20 weeks anyway.

Edited by FeralRebelWClaws, 26 February 2016 - 07:48 AM.

[smmaho]

Yeah I would defiantly still get the scan done as my OB recommends. It's just a matter of deciding which blood test. I am leaning towards the normal nt test and scan and then as you said if the odds weren't favourable I would look at getting the NIpT.

[ChilliDog]

I've just been reading the Sept DIG thread and thought I'd come back and clarify my response above.
With my DS I had the NIPT test but also had the 12 weeks scan just not the bloods. I will have the same with this pregnancy. I didn't actually realise people were opting just for the NIPT, I presumed because my OB referred me for both that was the standard!!

[dreamfizz]

I'll be having the standard NT & ultrasound but also adding NIPT as additional/own preference (not instead of).

[Esseffaz]

We're doing the harmony testing as soon as we can.

I'm 40 so there's a higher risk. We'd want to know sooner rather than later if there's an issue.

I don't think $400 for peace of mind is too much.

[premmie]

I've just booked the NIPT test with Sonic Genetics for next week. It was $450. I'm 33 and this is no 3 pregnancy. I figured for peace of mind I was happy to do both. My understanding based on a discussion with my GP was that having both a nuchal and nipt was best practice.

[PippyT]

What is the DIG? Sorry, I'm a newbie!

[PippyT]

Can I also ask, everyone who has elected to have the NIPT did you just do this through your GP? I am assuming this test is available to everyone?

[Lemongrass]

I did the nipt with my second mainly because i was overseas for a couple months after so i wasnt around to do the normal 12 week scan.. Also i am very impatient and i was really happy to learn the sex early

[purpleblaze]

It was a no brainer for us due to the accuracy of the test and my age, we chose the harmony test but without finding out the sex.  Cost wasn't an issue for us.