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A British mum says she would have had an abortion if tests during pregnancy had shown that her now four year old son had Down Syndrome.

A British mum is seeking compensation from her local hospital for failing to diagnose her now four year old son with Down Syndrome before he was born.

Edyta Mordel says that she and her husband would have opted to terminate the pregnancy if they had been offered the option of testing and it had returned a positive result.

Communication Breakdown

The couple have taken their case to the High Court, saying that they were told at 12 weeks that the pregnancy was progressing normally and believed all relevant tests had been carried out.

“I was reassured so many times that everything was alright, that the pregnancy was fine,” the 33 year old mum told The Daily Mail.

It appears that a test for Down Syndrome was not carried out, with the sonographer recording that the screening had been declined by Edyta and her husband. After Aleksander’s birth, doctors noted that Edyta was extremely “angry and upset” by the diagnosis and insisted that she had not refused the test.

Hurtful Or Honest?

Edyta is not the first mother to seek compensation for what is termed a “wrongful birth” – that is, when a child is born with serious genetic abnormalities and parents believe they were not made aware of the situation due to medical malpractice. In the UK alone, millions of dollars have been issued in similar cases.

The hospital says that once the test has been declined, it is considered ‘harassment’ to continue to offer it as an option. Whether the couple declined the test or not, however, remains unresolved and the case is ongoing.

Would the results of pre-natal screening affect your decision to continue with a pregnancy? Let us know in the comments.

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  • I find this totally disgusting. I work with special needs children and the Downs Syndrome children are such a delight. How horrible for this child to find out in later years that his parents didnt want him and would ahve done away with him given the information that he would be the wonderful person he is. Disgusting people

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  • Oh this is sad. I can understand in a way, it would be challenging, but that little being is still your flesh and blood and you should love it as such

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  • This breaks my heart. So many people would do anything just to have a baby.

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  • It is disappointing she feels this way.

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  • Something doesn’t sound right with this – to me it seems she has suddenly found out that she could get money for this and the hospital/sonographer are within their rights if she declined further testing. Something odd here.

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  • If there was strong evidence that my baby had a genetic disease and would have very little or no quality of life I would definitely consider abortion. I have seen evidence of this happening. Helpful treatment is not available, the baby struggles to survive but loses all muscle function right through entire body before passing away and not peacefully.

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  • If she felt this way and would have opted for a termination it brings up 2 questions for me. Number 1 is why did she wait until the child was nearly 4 before doing anything and Number 2, why didn’t she adopt him out if she felt this way. This darling child will not be shown the love he deserves if all she is thinking about is money.

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  • Wow… a miscommunication or not in terms of the test being offered or not?? As someone who tried desperately for 4 years to have a child, the test would not have mattered to me. To be a Mum, and to be raise a child… that’s the beauty.

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  • In all honesty does someone like this deserve a child at all? I’m sure her life is difficult but someone with down syndrome can still live a relatively normal life. That little boy is still her son!

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  • This is so very awful. Firstly, she declined the test therefore there was no malpractice. Secondly, I can’t even imagine how the child feels knowing that if the parents knew they would have Down Syndrome that they would have had an abortion. Even if true, the child should never be made aware of that.

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  • I really don’t know how I feel about this. Poor child.

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  • How sad for the child to one day find out their parents would have preferred to terminate, so selfish, Downs Syndrome children are kind, thoughtful and live just as good as lives as anyone else.

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  • This makes me so mad! It’s an extra chromosome, get over it! Yes it can be difficult but your child is still just as perfect as the next child, I would take this child in a heartbeat! I was raised with kids that have the extra chromosome and one of my best friend’s daughter has downs, they would not change their beautiful children for the world. I refused the downs test as it would not change the outcome for me, one beautiful, perfect happy cheeky child

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  • This is very saddening for the unwanted child, the family should seek to give Aleksander a good home not line their pockets because life didn’t turn out the way they wanted.

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  • That’s why there’s the option for the extra testing

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  • Oh how sad for that child :(

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  • Weird that it looks like they declined the test, while they say it wasn’t offered to them by the hospital. That would be quite a big concern for me.


    • It would seem both sides will need to provide proof on this point.

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  • I feel sorry for the child as they will always know from this that they weren’t wanted

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  • It looks like a case that is going to need close scrutiny of medical douments.

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  • If it was so important that they know they should have made sure they had the tests. I hope their child is loved.

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