European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                If the fetus is abnormal should it be aborted the decision is agonizing for would be  fetus can scar would be parents by Judy Daubenmier the associated press for millions of american couples a simple test at pregnancy confirms that their babies will be born Normal an of to dream o the future of first words of the first Day of school and beyond but for some seven out of 100 of those couples the tests Are the death of dreams the beginning of cruel and unusual options. The tests show that something has gone amiss and the babies will not be born whole. There Are Only two options of course a to abort the pregnancy or let it go to term and face Stillbirth or a future caring for a deformed or retarded child. Quot it was All like a slap in the face almost a says Jill Powell 28. Quot i remember the irony thinking i want a baby so much we were so Happy at being pregnant and look what i have to  Jill and her husband Buzz were shopping for cribs rocking chairs and stuffed toys six months into her pregnancy in december 1989. Their euphoria was twisted into despair when prenatal testing ordered after Jill began to spot showed the fetus had an extra 13th chromosome a rare birth defect. The Small Skull shown on the ultrasound meant the baby a brain was t developing properly. Doctors said that meant the child would be severely mentally retarded and probably would suffer numerous physical deformities that made it unlikely the Chi d would live More than a few months. Her husband 34, remembers being Quot completely  for most would be parents in these desperate circumstances there is terrible agony impossible decisions inadequate responses from families and friends a feeling of abandonment isolation anger and guilt. Or. Sherman Elias director of reproductive genetics at the University of Tennessee and chairman of the genetics subcommittee of the american College of obstetricians and gynaecologists says the list of genetic defects which can be uncovered through testing and the need for careful counselling of couples Are growing along with the number of tests. Quot it is a very traumatic experience Quot a he says. Quot in my experience it approaches the grieving process for the loss of a  or. Laird Jackson director of medical genetics at Jefferson medical College in Philadelphia says that when the College began offering tests in 1983, it did just 100 in the first 10 months. Today it tests about 2,000 fetuses a year. At Michigan state University s clinical Center in Lansing about 80 percent of the women who Are tested and found to have fetuses with abnormalities decide to end the pregnancies says Molly Minnick genetics Counselor at the Center. Quot i have helped people continue pregnancies where there is a lethal outcome where there is a baby that does not have a brain and will die because for them that was the Best decision Quot Minnick says. She has also helped people who decide to abort a pregnancy rather than Bear a baby who might be born live but inadequate to pursue an Independent life. Quot we try to really give them the facts about the condition but rely on their ability to make the Best decision for  Minnick says the Center encourages couples to hold their aborted infants take photographs and plan memorial services much As they would for a stillborn baby. A Saginaw Mich woman had an amniocentesis test performed when she became pregnant at 40. Already the Mother of a healthy boy born when she was 39, she was stunned when the doctor told her the fetus had Down s syndrome a congenital condition characterized by abnormal chromosomes and mental deficiency. Quot after the doctor told me i was very upset and i was crying and her words to me were Well you knew this was a  just totally no compassion at All Quot says Quot Susan a who asked that her name be kept confidential to spare her the risk of confrontation with anti abortion activists. _ sobbing softly she recalls holy she and her husband struggled to decide what was Best for their family. The decision was doubly difficult since prenatal tests can to determine How impaired a Down syndrome baby will be. Quot my first reaction was sadness and sorrow and then i was angry very angry angry at god Quot she says. Quot Why now Why any baby and Why this baby and i cried the entire  she had an abortion at Saginaw general Hospital last july during her 19th week of pregnancy. Her husband left her six weeks later. The powells were forced to travel to a clinic in Wichita kan., to end Jill a 29-week pregnancy no Michigan Hospital would perform one that late a state Law bans aborting pregnancies in the third trimester except to save the life or preserve the health of the Mother. Jill and Buzz watched anti abortion protesters marching and praying outside the clinic and resented the protesters condemnation of their decision without knowing their trauma. Quot i d like to Trade places with them Quot Buzz says. Their son Matthew Joseph was delivered stillborn after labor was induced Quot i remember looking at him and he just had these Beautiful 10 Little fingers and 10 Little toes Quot Jill recalls. But that was about All that was Normal. He had Only one nostril a sign the brain was not developed and the beginning of  lip and Cleft palate his hands and feet were cocked inward another sign. They treasure a color photograph of the baby lying on his right Side but regret they never picked up their son and held him. Then they had to leave their songs body in Kansas a clinic requirement unable to Bury their son they bought a cubicle in their Church s burial room where they placed a Teddy Bear receiving Blanket and a pair of baby socks. Jill and Buzz Powell ended a pregnancy when they found out their unborn child had severe birth defects. You lost All your dreams. We spent seven months planning dreaming about playing catch in the Yard and Little league. And All of a sudden Boom they re gone Quot Buzz  Quot to Tell you that you re Young and you can have More to Tell you any of the stuff a you just  overcame her initial reluctance to look at her son Luke Ian. Quot he was just like a miniature Little baby and i held him and i touched his head and his face and i looked to make sure he was a boy Quot she says in tears. A i can still remember just holding him and touching his fingers. They were so tiny. I can still remember what it Felt like to touch him Quot she cherishes six photographs of her son along with a birth record from the Hospital with his tiny footprints and a thumbprint the size of a flys Oeck. _ neither close family nor friends has to this Day brought up Luke Ian. Quot nothing Quot she says. Perhaps Quot nothing is better. Quot Debbie Chicky 26, Learned in the fourth month of her pregnancy that her baby had no brain which meant it could not live. She and her husband decided to end the pregnancy. Yet a close Friend badgered her to carry the baby to term and let her adopt it Chicky says. Quot she was showing me a picture of a girl with a Hole in her Skull and saying this was the same thing As Anen Cephal i said i done to want to see that. It makes me feel worse Quot she says. Chicky who is hearing impaired and communicates by sign language says the friends persistence ended their Friendship. Even sympathetic relatives sometimes fail to understand the need to Grieve or their reluctance to be around others babies the powells say Quot there would be times when we would be in the grocery and Jill would say a we have to leave a a Buzz says. Quot you get ready to go Down the Dairy aisle and there would be 17 pregnant women  a monthly support group at Michigan state is one of the few places couples can share their feelings Minnick a says. A her group members wrote a Book about their experiences As a guide to other couples. Quot they often can to talk to anybody about this. What if somebody said of. My god you had an  they done to know what Peoples reaction is going to be Quot Minnick says. Quot it s hard to talk to families about a baby that Diesi Quot. She says Quot its even harder to talk to a family when a they re actively making a decision about that because of the whole morality question about  now 41, Susan knows she will never have another child but the powells expect future pregnancies will be anxious times. Quot you know i m never going to have a Carefree joyous pregnancy Quot Jill says. Quot i Tell myself the fear is pretty irrational but it s  policies a Neucom Public affairs spokesman said abortions Are not normally performed in military hospitals. Quot under the Law funds available to the department of defense May not be used to perform abortions except where the life of the Mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term Quot he said. In Germany a 7th medical come spokesman elaborated on the policies for army hospitals in that country. Quot All pregnant women regardless of the condition of the fetus receive counselling from a physician and if they want it also from a social worker. If they have questions about pregnancy termination during that counselling we answer those questions. Quot part of that response is that German Law allows pregnancy termination in certain cases. If a woman wants to consider taking that course she must first have counselling from a recognized German Agency. The Agency then refers the women to a physician if appropriate. The patient pays for the procedure out of her own pocket. It is against the Law for . Funds including champs funds to pay for pregnancy termination i these  new process to help infertile men by Randi Hutter Epstein associated press by piercing a tiny Hole in women s eggs doctors Are helping infertile men with too few or abnormally shaped sperm conceive babies. The technique called Rhi Cro manipulation is being used in 30 centers worldwide and literally creates an a easier path for sperm to swim inside eggs which Are protected by a Barrier much like a Chicken s eggshell. Quot we still have a lot of learning to do but we Are entering a new and exciting Era in in Vitro fertilize it a technology Quot or Simon Fischel of Britain s University of Nottingham told the world Congress on in Vitro fertilization and assisted a procreation meeting earlier this month. At least 85 babies have been born ail Normal and healthy said or. Jacques Cohen a Pioneer in the Field and scientific director of assisted reproduction at Cornell University s Center for reproductive Medicine and Quot infertility in new Yolk. He expects 50 More births by the end of the year and predicts hundreds within two years. Also presented at the Congress was a Survey of 469 clinics. Scientists plunge a thin Sharp tipped Glass Rod through the protective coat of a woman a egg to create an easier path for sperm to s Wim inside. In 24 countries showing that infertile couples have about one Chance in five of having a baby through in Vitro fertilization. There have been few alternatives for couples who cannot have babies because of male infertility which is the Case for about 40 percent of couples who cannot conceive Cohen said. And yet the overwhelming majority of research has focused on women he added. Frequently men with too few or abnormally shaped sperm cannot impregnate women reusing a Microscope to see the egg. Scientists plunge a thin Sharp tipped Glass Rod through the protective coat of the egg not into the egg itself. In one method doctors Dunk eggs into a sucrose solution that shrinks them and creates More space Between egg and Shell. Once the Shell is broken sperm Glide in. The crack in the egg must be very tiny because the Shell is crucial in Early stages of pregnancy. Or. Neri Laufer from Hadassah Hospital in Israel and a member of the International advisory committee for the Congress said lasers now limited to animal studies offer Quot a gentle precise Way to Drill holes in  infertile couples should not be deterred by the Low rate of Success of in Vitro fertilization but they should understand the risks doctors said at the four Day conference. About a fourth of these pregnancies end in miscarriages in the first trimester. Babies born by in Vitro fertilization have a higher rate of death in the first weeks of life and Are More Likely to suffer from Low birth weight. Experts said the trend to Pul fewer embryos into the womb and freeze the rest for later use will Cut Down on the number of multiple births and May boost survival Rales. Twins and triplets Are prone to suffer from Low birth weight. Nearly 40,000 children have been born by in Vitro fertilization. Another study presented at the meeting surveyed women who donate eggs to find out How much information they want about the recipient couple or the Newborn. A third of the 165 women said children born with their eggs have a right to know the biological Mother said or. Nigel Perks of London s Hammersmith Hospital. Nearly half the women want a Quot thumbnail sketch of the couple Perks said. Yet Only 7 percent would want the identity of the child revealed  own children. Standard procedure is to keep All information about donor and recipient Anonymous. Not breast cancer May be linked to fat by Rob Stein United press International w Omen on Low fat diets appear to experience less genetic damage that May be linked to breast cancer researchers report. A study involving 21 women at High risk for breast cancer because of a family history of the disease found those placed on Low fat diets experienced one third As much of a certain Type of the genetic damage As those on Normal diets. The findings reported in the journal of the National cancer Institute offer More evidence that dietary fat May increase the risk for breast cancer and that reducing fat in the diet May lower the risk the researchers said. In addition the findings May explain How fat in the diet May increase the risk said Zora Djuric. She is an assistant professor of internal Medicine at Wayne slate University in Detroit and helped conduct the study. Breast cancer strikes about 175,000 . Women each year killing an estimated.44,800 women making it the most common form of cancer and second leading cause of cancer deaths among american women. The number of breast cancer cases has increased steadily in the United states. The american cancer society estimates that the disease will strike one in nine  women sometime in their lifetimes. Experts Are Uncertain Why the disease seems to be increasing. Some evidence suggests that the increase could be linked to the amount of fat in the . Diet. Scientists Are also unsure How fat could increase the risk for breast cancer but Djuric said lat May increase the chances that certain genes May be damaged triggering the development of cancer. The Type of genetic damage found among women in the study who were on Normal diets a Alicr than a Low fat diet has been linked to the development of breast cancer in Laboratory animals she said. Djuric recommended that women especially those at High risk for breast cancer a try to reduce the amount of fat in their diets Quot i would recommend it for anybody a a actually Quot she said Quot Why not Quot Page 14 a the stars and stripes tuesday july 30, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 15