All we ever wanted was to have a baby. "Well - congratulations, you have 2 eggs" said the Dr., and our journey began...
Roll forward a few months, and my wife and I faced the first question - whether to go thru an AFP test. Since it's only a blood test, the decision was simple - not life-threatening ==> let's do it...
Well, life is never too simple. AFP, or MS-AFP which is the more correct name these days for this blood test done between weeks 12-15 of the pregnancy, is a test for multiple components of the blood. Some researchers in the 70's have found out that embryos with some development problems, mainly Down syndrome, show specific patterns in these blood components. As a matter of fact - this is all statistics. Statistically, there is higher chance of really having these problems if you see this patterns occur.
Some states, and specifically California, finance the MSAFP test, and dictate that it cannot be re-done. Once results are "bad" - the state will finance the more exact test - Amniocyntesis. Unfortunately, the MSAFP test results are less accurate with twins - leaving more room for concerns and uncertainty - yes, on us, the expecting parents...
We indeed had to face this tough decision - our little babies had shown great results on the NT test - yet the MSAFP test ended with bad signs....
We went thru the Amniocyntesis test after many weeks of debates. Results are good. Life is better now...
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