Would I have used this? My wife had two failed IVF attempts, and the third finally had both embryos implant. The selected eggs were based on the zygotes that replicated the most cells in 2-3 days. Our twin girls are now 3 years old. One is tracking normally, but the other started showing Autistic symptoms shortly after their first birthday.
Would a test have shown a tendency towards autism? Would we have used another of the remaining 3 zygotes instead of that one? If you haven't dealt with an autistic child, it's an incredible all-day long challenge, because she can hardly communicate at all.
I love both of my daughters deeply, and would die for them. So I can't even imagine either of them not in my life now. But autism is so hard on her, us, our family, it's tempting to consider having screened for this if it was reliable.
In my heart-of-heart, I wouldn't have done the tests, because there's a wonderful little girl in there. Albert Einstein is theorized as being autistic, and lots of adults with autism are incredibly smart, talented people making great contributions. Conversely, lots of healthy people sit around drinking beer and watch NASCAR all day. So what does that say? Health isn't everything, that's for sure.
But what I really fear, is that health insurance companies or government would *dictate* which tests to have and which embryos to keep! I'll pass on them deciding for my family.
Whew! That was way too long. Bonus experience points to anyone who actually read the whole thing.
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Would I have used this? My wife had two failed IVF attempts, and the third finally had both embryos implant. The selected eggs were based on the zygotes that replicated the most cells in 2-3 days. Our twin girls are now 3 years old. One is tracking normally, but the other started showing Autistic symptoms shortly after their first birthday.
Would a test have shown a tendency towards autism? Would we have used another of the remaining 3 zygotes instead of that one? If you haven't dealt with an autistic child, it's an incredible all-day long challenge, because she can hardly communicate at all.
I love both of my daughters deeply, and would die for them. So I can't even imagine either of them not in my life now. But autism is so hard on her, us, our family, it's tempting to consider having screened for this if it was reliable.
In my heart-of-heart, I wouldn't have done the tests, because there's a wonderful little girl in there. Albert Einstein is theorized as being autistic, and lots of adults with autism are incredibly smart, talented people making great contributions. Conversely, lots of healthy people sit around drinking beer and watch NASCAR all day. So what does that say? Health isn't everything, that's for sure.
But what I really fear, is that health insurance companies or government would *dictate* which tests to have and which embryos to keep! I'll pass on them deciding for my family.
Whew! That was way too long. Bonus experience points to anyone who actually read the whole thing.