stories of prenatal diagnosis – Through the Unexpected

While congenital anomalies are more common than we think, we rarely hear the stories of the people that have received a prenatal diagnosis. We have collated some stories here, to share with you the variety of reactions, experiences and outcomes.

Note: these stories appear in random order.

We understand that stories which may empower one person, may be unhelpful for another.

Please use the dropdown category box to select a particular topic or to avoid other topics. The decision-making category includes stories that reflect the vast array of potential experiences.

Select the View Profile button to read more about the story, or click on the image to go straight to the source.

Please contact us to let us know about any other stories featuring a prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies so we can share them here.

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Australian Birth Stories: Bianca (podcast)

An interview with Bianca who unexpectedly navigated the complex reality of a Downs Syndrome diagnosis. Despite multiple health professionals advising her to terminate, she chose to keep her baby, journeyed through a tumultuous pregnancy and delivered him at 34weeks via cesarean.

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Australian Birth Stories: Sarah Jade (podcast)

After a long and traumatic 33 weeks of pregnancy, Sarah let go of her second child Aksel, who had severe brain malformations.

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Fotini’s story – The pain of terminating much wanted pregnancies (post)

A mother’s experience of undergoing two TFMRs after receiving a diagnosis of spina bifida in two babies, Bruce and Blake.

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Special: antidotes to the obsessions that come with a child’s disability (book)

“Most of us expect to meander through the motions of love, marriage and (textbook) baby in the carriage, but once in a while life has something a little more special in store…”

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One Screened Every Minute: Naomi & Al (podcast)

They are the parents of two boys – Frankie, who is seven and Joe. Joe passed away suddenly just before his second birthday. Only a few months later, Naomi became pregnant. They talk about the decision to terminate the pregnancy when a non-invasive prenatal screening showed a high chance of a chromosomal deletion.

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The agony of choosing termination for my baby who had foetal anomaly (article)

There is a silence around the death of a baby, and a greater hush around the issue of termination for foetal anomaly. Laura Doward shares her life-changing experience.

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Australian Birth Stories: Nadia (podcast)

Nadia’s first son, a boy named Pio, was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal abnormality and was born via cesarean at 20weeks. She discusses her disbelief at the diagnosis and the subsequent grief of her loss followed by the healing arrival of her rainbow baby, Riviera.

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