Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis: an ethical imperative

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe In their Ethics watch article (An offer you can't refuse? Ethical implications of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. _Nature Rev. Genet._

10, 515 (2009))1, Schmitz _et al_. argue that the implementation of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) for fetal aneuploidies would pose a threat to the reproductive autonomy of women by

impeding the provision of adequate pre-test counselling. I argue that the introduction of NIPD would in fact increase reproductive autonomy by allowing women to access information without

subjecting their pregnancy to the risk posed by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS). Women considering invasive testing are faced with a distressing dilemma: they must weigh the

risk of bringing to term an affected fetus against the risk of losing a healthy one. To assist women and their partners in this decision and to inform them about the implications of

possible abnormalities, pre-test counselling has become a routine component of prenatal diagnosis in most countries. Schmitz _et al_. argue that NIPD should replace current invasive testing

only once “a new organizational setting” is in place to ensure that women are offered adequate pre-test counselling. However, delaying the introduction of NIPD into clinical practice would

be ethically misguided, as explained below. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal

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REFERENCES * Schmitz, D., Netzer, C. & Henn, W. An offer you can't refuse? Ethical implications of non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. _Nature Rev. Genet._ 10, 515 (2009). Article  CAS

  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Caughey A. B., Hopkins L. M. & Norton M. E. Chorionic villus sampling compared with amniocentesis and the difference in the rate of pregnancy loss. _Obstet.

Gynecol._ 108, 612–616 (2006). Article  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Renner, I. (ed.) Experience of Pregnancy and Prenatal Diagnosis. _BZgA_ [online] (2006) Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank S. H. Morris and C. R. Coughlin II for their helpful comments. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Vardit Ravitsky is at the Center for Bioethics, University

of Pennsylvania, 3401 Market Street, Suite 320, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. [email protected], Vardit Ravitsky Authors * Vardit Ravitsky View author publications You

can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Ravitsky, V. Non-invasive prenatal diagnosis: an

ethical imperative. _Nat Rev Genet_ 10, 733 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2631-c1 Download citation * Published: 15 September 2009 * Issue Date: October 2009 * DOI:

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