Can a 'Down Syndrome' Test Be a False Positive???

Everyone that I've ever heard of that had a positive (which isn't really a "positive" it is a % of a possibility) has been a false one, including myself. All that does is register a certain number of possible things that MAY point to it. I think the incidence of false "positive"s is extremely high.

My Girlfriends brother was told that their daughter (child,) had it, they conteplated terminating it.. Glad they did not.. She was a perfectly normal child.. and this was the Amnio that "said" the baby was DS.

Do not worry until the baby comes out..

There isn't a blood test for Down Syndrome. Those screenings just select people who are in a certain range that are more likely to be carrying a baby with DS. Those screenings do NOT tell you that your baby has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome, so there is no false negative and it's not a positive. It just shows that there is greater likelihood. Her baby was not tested for Down Syndrome. It's just that she is in a range that COULD be Down Syndrome. An Amnio is an actual genetic test that will tell whether the baby has it or not. Most of the women who go through this triple or quad screen and come up high in range for Down or for spina bifeda are NOT actually carrying a baby with that condition.

The blood work only tells the doctor whether or not your child has an elevated risk factor, it does not give a positive or negative. They amnio in combination with the ultrasound will either confirm or refute it.

Yes, they can absolutely be inaccurate. In fact, my doctor insists on an ultrasound at the same time as the bloodwork because of the rate of inaccuracy!

There is NO positive and negative with down syndrome screenings. There is, high and low risk. She did not test positive, she likely tested at an elevated risk. Hence, the amnio. There is no "false" positive, because the test does not screen positives and negatives. It screens for a number or percentage risk. They are not very accurate, anyhow.

They give you "odd" like 1 in 100 or 1 in 5 they do not say yes or no from the blood work.

Yes, it is definitely possible. A friend of mine was also told her son's results were highly likely for Down Syndrome, I don't remember the exact test, my daughter had it as well, but when they had the amnio all was fine. He is a healthy boy of 11.

And, I have another friend who gave birth to her first child, a son, with Down Syndrome. Back in the day she and her husband were told to "put him in an institution." Her husband said, "He's our son, why on earth would we do that?" He was never expected to be able to do anything for himself, yet he graduated from high school, trained and held a job. He was the most loving, kind, helpful, caring individual I've ever know, and when he passed away at 40 years of age from a burst blood vessel in his brain the church was filled to capacity with people mourning a person professionals had said was a nothing.

Prayers that all is well with your friend's baby, and just be there for her however it turns out.

Oh yeah... been there done that with my perfectly healthy daughter. Screening came back with a false postive. Amnio said she was fine. I was a tough inbetween to go through though.

Those screening tests are not very accurate... look up which one she had on line and check the accuracy rate.. at the time I had mine, the test had a greater than 90% cahnce of showing a false postive!

I am pregnant now and did NO screening test, just the amnio. A lot less stressfull that way.

Hugs for you and your friend. I will pray for you both!

My blood work came back in the DS range. They ran the test again same thing. I spent the whole weekend trying to figure out what to do. We did another blood test and it was perfectly normal as was she!

I understand the screening but the stress...

I don't know exactly what the chances are, but I have a friend who had a false positive amnio, and her daughter was born absolutely normal!

Yes it can be false. My sister in law was positive for three of her 4 girls, and all of them are healthy. My friend was also tested positive, refused an amnio, and the baby is healthy.

It is very possible to have a false positive test . A friend of mine was told that her daughter may have down's and when she was born she was completely fine. Keep in mind the way they test for this is by measuring the neck of the fetus on an ultrasound, which is not very accurate.

a friend tested positive. emnio tested positive, child was born with 'slight' cerebral palsy. if you didn't know it, you wouldn't be able to tell.

another friend tested positive twice. child was born normal but with low iron.

both of those instances are why i didn't have the tests done.

yes you can have a false positive, but honestly why is she freaking out? Will she love the baby less if the baby is down syndrome? I never had the tests done because i didnt care. I would love the baby no matter what. My cousin has a baby born with down syndrome and she is the most amazing baby! I think she needs to not freak out and just relax. Her baby will be the way the baby is meant to be.

I just got the results back on my Nuchal Translucency test yesterday with a high risk (1:14). At this point it is just a risk, not positive or negative. The doctor said I had three options I could choose from for further testing. Because two of them are invasive and have the possibility of loosing the baby, I chose the third choice which is a newer test that is called MaterniT21. It is a blood test that isolates the baby's dna which can be found in the mother's blood. This test has been given for 12 years and has a 99% accuracy rating. It is not well known yet, but they are hoping that once they have more results proving its accuracy this will replace the amnio as the next screening since there is no risk to the baby at all. I will be taking the test next week. I would encourage your friend to look into it

The majority of positive results are false positives. I hope your friend is aware of how very, very, very risky doing an amnio is. It will increase her risk of having a miscarriage based on the low chance that the baby has Down Syndrome. If she plans to keep the baby regardless of the results, she might consider refusing the amnio.

It was six yrs ago but I when I had my first ultra sound i think it was the 'nuchal test' and it came back pos (low percentage) for down syndrome. i had the option for amnio, but i didnt do. the percentage was something like 4-7% (approx 5 babies out of 100 would be born w/down syn in my case). the ob told me not to get upset b/c sometimes these tests come back like this and it doesnt necessarily mean anything. if i had done the amnio i think i would've know for sure. my daughter did not have down syn.

Hi H....I too had a false positive from the afp test when I was pregnant with my fourth daughter. We met with a geneticist who said we should have an amnio (I was 36 at the time) and depending on those results could decide what we wanted to do. We ultimately decided not to do the amnio and put everything in God's hands because even if the amnio delivered bad news we would have continued with the pregnancy. She was born with no sign of downs or any other abnormality and now, 8 years later is a beautiful, happy and healthy child. I've heard of lots of false positives with this test.