Would It Be Better for Her Not to Be Born?: Down Syndrome, Prenatal Testing, and Reproductive Decision-Making

The article examines the reproductive decision-making processes of women who had prenatal testing and learned that their fetus had Down syndrome. Interviews with women who experienced this decisional process have revealed features that are recurrent in these women’s experiences; in fact, in many cases, the decision-making is substantively identical, regardless of the ultimate decision the woman makes. All the women found the decision-making difficult and painful; all identified the fetus as their child and identified themselves as mothers. There was no clear “right” answer for any of the women, so they often struggled with narratives and experiences that were paradoxical. The insights that these interviews provided will enable more nuanced and informed analyses and arguments from feminist disability studies scholars.