Can't Decide - Amniocentesis or CVS?

I personally didn't/wouldn't do either. I agree with S L M and Lynn M in that it wouldn't have changed anything about my prenatal care and I wouldn't terminate if there was a problem. Ultimately, you have to do what you are most comfortable with.

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I've had 3 miscarriages and I can't think of a singe reason I'd ever terminate any pregnancy. I wouldn't take the chance of ANY of these tests because they increase the chance of miscarriage. I believe you should trust the Lord and let nature take it's course.

I don't know what to say...I didn't have the amnio with either of my pregnancies. I was 19 when my son was born and they had asked if I wanted the amnio but it was not necessary and they said it was risky. I declinded. I was 34.5 when my daughter was born. They told me about the testing options. While discussing them I asked "if the test shows an abnormality is there anything you can do treatment wise that would change the outcome? and would you handle the pregnancy or delivery any different? The answer to both was "no". They further explained that it would simply let us know if there was an issue and give the option to abort but would not change anything treatment or the outcome. My husband and I agreed that since we couldn't change anything and we would not abort then there was no sense finding out because all it would do is add stress and worry during the pregnancy. Additionally, having the test would add risk to the pregnancy.

IF you feel comfortable, GO FOR IT! I knew what my decision would be whatever the results (to keep my baby), but this will give you a heads up whatever you choose. No shocking surprises....giving birth is shock enough! :)
I know this is a very hard decision, I wish you the best.
Congrats on the pregnancy :)

I was in your position not long ago and I had the NTD done. Thank goodness it was normal. If it wasn't, I would have had the CVS done. I don't think I could have waited for the amnio wondering what could or couldn't be wrong when the CVS could be done right away and I could make future decisions right away without everyone knowing I was pregnant and trying to influence me. I hadn't heard that the amnio was less risky, I actually thought it was more risky, but either way their are risks. Good luck in your decision.

follow your gut....do what you feel comfortable with...no one can make this decision for you...

You need to make the decision based on what you will do if you get less than good information and find out what is the least invasive procedure for you...talk with your doctor about WHY they want to do the tests...is it important to you?

is it because of your age or your past losses (sorry about that)...ask as many questions until you feel comfortable!!

I am a genetic testing specialist for a huge lab. Please test for everything you can. It is important to know if you are carriers for any inherited conditions and to know if your baby has any conditions, to get good news, prepare for a special needs child or terminate if that's what you feel.

I have to say it again - genetic testing is not always for termination!! Most of the times it is to give good news and ease the parents mind and it can give you time for preparation if something is wrong. I see horrible situations every day that could have been avoided (or prepared for). If I knew I was going to have a child die in utero from a disease or never see their second birthday, I would want to be prepared.

hi
congratulations on your pregnancy! i had a cvs done at 13 weeks. the most painful thing ever. not trying to scare you or anything...just one simple question; would you abort this little life inside of you if the results arent pleasant?
When i was 10 weeks they saw a shadow behind my babies neck, turned out to be a cystic hygroma (nuchal translucency) she had extra. The results came back normal. it dissapear at 16 weeks...but theres always a chance of mother contamination im sure the doctor mention this to you...i wasnt goign to terminate my pregnancy regardless of the outcome. im only 19 years young. my babygirl just turned 2 months yesterday. she was born with Di george syndrome..has some complications as heart defects, low calcium and hoping nothing else for now...shes the biggest blessing God could of ever gave me. Im just sharing my story so you know some possibilities of any negative results even though mines came back normal. Reality is nothing its 100 % so to risk that little bit and maybe your child doesnt even have anything it would be a bummer!!! I did it because i wanted to be mentally prepare. I wish you good luck and that nothing goes wrong you and your family would be in my prayers...but PLEASE just remember one thing; God doesnt give what you cant handle. And he gives special babies to good mothers because he knows they would be well taken care of. May God bless.

i dont know anything about the CVS test. but when i was pregnant with my first son, who is 2 1/2 now, i found out at 20 weeks that i had a 2 vessel cord and that he had a cleft lip. i had to see the perinatologist every month from then on. he said that they were going to do all the normal tests that check for defects etc and he mentioned that we could do an amnio to make sure there was no down syndrome. He told us that with an anmio there was a 1 IN 500 CHANCE of miscarraige. to my husband and I this seemed like to high of a risk so we decided not to do it. i dont know the risks of the CVS like I said. I wouldnt always listen to them when they say you should terminate either. a woman i met on here had an ultrasound at 20 weeks and they told her that her baby didnt have a brain and that she should abort. she and her husband decided not to listen and have the baby, to leave it in Gods hands. 20 weeks later they delivered a perfectly healthy NORMAL baby girl. i'll pray for you!

I had amnio but I would have preferred the earlier CVS. If you can get CVS, then I would go for that one. Both are accurate!

I had my kids at 39 and 41.. They are both healthy and totally normal.

Do not get the CVS test. The CVS test takes placental cells. These are not the same as fetal cells. I had the CVS test done at 11 weeks (whenever it is supposed to be done) the test result was " confined placental mosiacism"!!! . Some of the cells were notmal some had trisomy. (3 chromosomes instead of 2 but not for hte chromosome that causes downs) The genetic counselor told me that they thought the baby was OK genetically becasue there were no liveborn children with this trisomy. So off I went to the medical library.. reading and searching.. scared to death. I had to wait another month to get the amnio for the real genetic results. Teh mosiac results are rare.. but they do happen. If the CVS test is inconclusive you may have to have the amnio anyway.

I bled for 3 weeks after the CVS. it was a horrible experience. I wished I had skipped all testing. The stress and aggravation is not worth it.

Amnio... is FAR more accurate.
I had the Amnio, with both my pregnancies. Per maternal age.
It was fine.
I would have it again, in a heart beat.

For me, I did NOT have the Amnio... in order to judge whether or not to continue my pregnancy. Many think, that this is the only 'reason' for the Amnio. It is NOT.
I did it... so that I would know... about my kids' health and/or about any conditions they might have. It was about me, the Mom, being INFORMED about my pregnancy. NOT about, to continue it or not.
This is a common... misperception, about the Amnio.

I did both (CVS for first, amnio for my current/2nd). I think the amnio is better for a more comprehensive scan as it's later so can look for spina bifida at the same time. That being said, the CVS is substantially earlier and may make a potentially difficult decision easier to make. According to statistics, doing it in the 12th week is the safest for the fetus. Both tests have a small risk of miscarriage. I found I was not feeling "ok" after the nuchal scan so that's why I did the amnio--and I just wish I had made that decision earlier because it's a slight duplication of tests.
I agree with a couple posters that this doesn't have to be a test for terminating a pregnancy, but also peace of mind as well as for preparation should there be a need.
Talk to your midwife/doctor and make the decision that is right for you and your partner. Age wasn't the only factor for me...and amnios used to be much more "routine" until insurance companies started deciding that these tests could only be done after age 35 or high risk in order to be considered worthwhile. It's ultimately your decision and you should be comfortable with it. good luck and hugs

Personally, I wouldn't do either unless the NT screening came back as high-risk. At 35, the age-based risk alone is much lower for defects than the risk of miscarriage from CVS or amnio.

When my NT came back unfavorable, I chose to go with the CVS for speedier results. Before making the decision, I checked the specific *doctor's* statistics. The risk of miscarriage will vary from doctor to doctor. Mine had a better-than-national-average record for both CVS and amnio, and they were almost identical.

My CVS was abdominal. It was uncomfortable (though not painful, per se.) It was also quick and easy. And my 7 month old is absolutely fabulous. :-)

Good luck to you!

It comes down to what you are going to do with the information.
Will having it sooner help you make a choice?

They are all just percentages, what percentage will make you feel safe?

I did both with different kids to ease my anxiety, but really it's just a number, nothing is 100%, I wanted to get as close as we could to being prepared.

Only you can decide. I was 40 when I was pregnant for the first time and decided that I wanted the amnio as I wanted the most accurate genetic information. Also, we did the quad screen as well as the nuchal translucency test and everything looked good on those but i wanted the amnio anyway. It was not a big deal, and the stats on it are mis-leading. Everything turned out fine.

I wish you well. There is so much worrying about all of this. 35 is just on the cusp of the increased risk -if the baby's father is also under 40 you are in better shape - my husband is 5 years older so I was concerned. My OB said she'd rather care for an older mother who is careful with her health and really wanted the baby than a younger mother who wasn't as careful.

Good luck and God bless!

From the Mayo Clinic website about CVS:

"Most test results are normal, which can ease anxiety about your baby's health. Occasionally, test results are unclear and amniocentesis is needed to clarify the diagnosis. With chorionic villus sampling, there's a rare chance of a false-positive test — when the test is positive, but no disease exists. It's also important to remember that chorionic villus sampling can't identify all birth defects, including spina bifida and other neural tube defects."

Which means, I believe, is that a decision to terminate would not typically be based on positive CVS results alone, but would require an amniocentesis to be sure the results were not a false positive. You would also not know if your fetus had spina bifida or other neural tube defects.

The Mayo Clinic says this about amniocentesis:
"For genetic amniocentesis, test results can reliably rule out or diagnose various genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome. Follow-up testing isn't usually necessary."

Because of these differences, and the significantly lower chance of miscarriage from the procedure, I chose to only do the amniocentesis. I was 40. It was quick and painless and gave me clear (positive) answers. The only drawback with the amniocentesis is that the CVS can be done earlier. But I wanted clear results, not several weeks of fear and uncertainty between tests because of a false positive.

I was 36 when my younger son was born (so I was over 35). I did not have the nuchal translucency test. I had the the blood test. My doctor did not encourage either the CVS or the Amnio unless the results showed something. I could be wrong, but it was my understanding that the blood test had a high rate of false positives but not a high rate of false negatives. It was her recommendation that I have an amnio if any of the tests came back positive. None of them did, so I never had the amnio.

I believe I would have had the amnio, though. I thought about it quite a bit, and I decided that if my child had a chance of having something, I would want to do as much research as I could before he/she was born. I knew that i would be calmer if I had some knowledge of what I was facing.

My older son was in the transverse position at 34 weeks, so I read about C-sections just in case. He ended up turning and was head down. I was in the hospital in the early stages of labor when I had placental abruptia (when the placenta begins to tear). Apparently I lost a lot of blood. I wouldn't know, as I was quite out of it. I ended up with an emergency c-section. So glad I did the reading :-) Made everything a lot less scary.

My point is, for me knowledge is power. The more I know and understand, the better I feel no matter what I'm facing. Do research. Learn as much as you can. Ask as many questions as you can. Then, do what your heart tells you.

Good luck! And remember, just because you're almost 35 is no reason to panic! So common these days :-)

I always say no to both tests. I'm not quite your age. I'm 33 and prego with #5. I carry a genetic disorder (with my hubby - double recessive). We have a 1 in 4 chance of our children being born with a really rare, fatal disease (causes bone marrow failure and cancers, as well as other issues, like major heart defects, etc). Our first surprised us by being born with this disease that we had no idea we carried.

The tests would mean nothing to us. We do ultrasounds, but however the baby arrives is how he/she arrives. We wouldn't terminate any pregnancy over results like that. Since we have a baby with abnormalities (our first, our other four are healthy), we see that we love her just as much as our healthy children and are so glad she's in our family! We wouldn't trade her for the world.

Anyway..just something to consider. Would you REALLY do something if the tests were abnormal? If not, then don't even worry about them. You do risk losing a possibly completely healthy baby by doing them. There is a risk associated with the tests.

Do neither. I was 37 yo with my first and 41 with my second. They will do what is called a triple test (which consists of 3 test, one of which is that nuchal translucency test - cant remember the other two - but I think its just simple blood work), anyway, they take the results of all 3 tests and then give you your odds of having a baby with downs primarily and some other genetic disorders. Then depeding on your results you can decide whether to do amnio or cvs. Both mine were fine - my chances were like that of a 20 yo. I'm sure your's will be fine too. Good luck with your pregnancy!!

I had a CVS at age 37. My baby was higher up so they had to go through my stomach, instead of "up." I believe it tests for everything that amnio does or close to it. The Dr. who did mine has done thousands of these. I had complete confidence. Slightly painful for the minute or so when the needle went in but the results that I got were worth it.
I think I chose the CVS because it was earlier results.
Good Luck.

I had 7 Miscarriages and 4 were chemical pregnancies. Please DO NOT do the tests. I belond to RESOLVE and I led a infertility support group and I know too many women who finally stayed pregnant and did this and it did not have a good ending. I am so sorry I am not trying to scare you but you are young and you do not need to do this. You will be able to tell if there is anything wrong as the pregnancy progresses though ultrasounds especially level two. Why does tehdr think you have to do it? if you were 42 I would say you would have to do it. I am so sorry if this is not the right answer for you but I am obviously scared of losses and miscarriages and have seen way too many from girls in the group and trust me I ahve met a lot of women supporting them. I wish I could be more helpful to you and support you the way you need. this is all I personally know.