Im 13 weeks pregnant and im 18 years old should i be worried about testing for down syndrome ?

I am 25 and I opted not to test. i couldn't give my baby back either way.

Unless you have some reason to truly think your baby could have it (such as a close relative with it) I would skip it. For many reasons:

1. If you found out the baby did have it would you abort it? If not then you'd just put yourself under more stress and possibly do more damage to the baby because of the stress.

2. Some insurance companies actually will label it a pre-existing condition and not cover it if it shows in the test!

3. The tests are not 100% accurate.

4. Depending on your doctor if it was found the baby did have it, they may label you as high risk, which could cause you to change doctors and have a crappier and more stressful (extra appointments, more specific diet, extra weigh ins, etc etc) pregnancy.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Good luck with the pregnancy!

At thirteen weeks you should still be able to have a nuchal translucency test. In combination with a blood test the ultrasound measures a fold of skin at the back of the babies neck and depending on its thickness and in combination with the results of the blood test your risk factor for having a child with downs syndrome can either increase or decrease. Depending on the result you could also have your baby tested with an amniocentesis however that test carries a risk for your baby while the nuchal test doesn't and would usual only be performed if there was a high risk factor.

You will have the test done. Just because you are under 35 doesn't mean they don't check for it. They do what's called a triple screen...it test for more than down syndrome, though. You shouldn't have much to worry about, though, but it's possible. There's a girl in my town, that had a down syndrome-like child when she was 17. She knew before having the baby, but she chose to keep it.

I am a proud mom of a 6, soon to be 7-year-old with Down syndrome. I was 29-years-old when I had Zyon. I found out about Zyon after his birth. Worrying is not good for the baby or you. Detecting if the child has DS or not will not guarantee a healthy child, or challenge free. You have to trust that God will not put more on you than you can bare and trust yourself that you can handle obstacles. My son has challenges, but what child or person doesn't.

I have a website, feel free to check it out... HYH "Have Ya Heard" Online - http://www.hyhonline.com/ - a social network of mostly parents with special needs children.

You will be fine. Dont' stress.

Unless you wanted to terminate if it were downs syndrome I wouldn't advise it. You go through two tests, one to say whether you are more or less likely to be having a downs baby and if the result is more likely then you can choose to go through with the next test where they stick a needle in through your belly and take some of the amniotic fluid and tell your for definite if the baby is downs or not. But there is a chance you could lose your baby after having the needle test. That's why I chose not to have it.

No. The one and only way you can know for sure if your baby has downs prior to birth is by amniocentesis, which could cause you to lose the pregnancy all together. Considering your low risk of having a baby with Downs (based only on your age because that is all I know about you), amniocentesis is not worth the risk. Major indicators of Downs can be seen in an ultrasound, which should be sufficient enough evidence for now considering your low probability of carrying a baby with Downs. Good luck---I'm sure everything is fine.

No I wouldn't worry at your age the chances are very slim. I wouldn't have the test. Spend the time enjoying being pregnant and looking forward to your new baby

I would say it depends on how worried you are about having a baby with downs and whether it would make a difference to you if the baby had downs or not. If not then it would not be necessary to test. It can happen at any age though my friend was 21 and her baby was born with downs and he is a dear little soul .

I wouldn't worry about it. Are you talking about having the Triple test done? If so you should know that test often comes back with false positives causing a lot of unnecessary stress and testing.

I think its normal for every pregnant woman to be worried. I mean...I got my test done...and wont get the results back until my next dr. apt. on the 3rd. I'm not dreading it...but I do think...what if? I wouldn't stress about it though...unless you have a history of down syndrome in your family or something...