My patient, who I’ll call Lisa, is 36 years old and was so excited to find out she was pregnant for the first time. Lisa had aneuploidy screening (blood testing for chromosomal abnormalities like Down syndrome, also known as trisomy 21) done at the normal time, around 16 weeks of pregnancy. Her test came back with an increased risk for Down syndrome. She decided to have an amniocentesis, which was her only option for getting a clear diagnosis. The amniocentesis results came back at 19 weeks of pregnancy, and confirmed the diagnosis of Down syndrome. While Lisa was disheartened, she decided to continue with the pregnancy.

Due to her test results, we completed a more detailed fetal ultrasound the next week. Tragically, the scan found a significant heart defect—one that was incompatible with life.

At 36, Lisa had a finite number of fertile years left and she struggled with the decision about having a termination. Unfortunately, she would continue to get older the longer she continued the pregnancy, and thus have an increasing risk of infertility. Lisa decided to terminate this very wanted pregnancy. She ended up at receiving her care at Planned Parenthood.

When I spoke with Lisa after her experience at Planned Parenthood, she shared, “It was the worst day of my life, but everyone at Planned Parenthood was so kind and compassionate. Planned Parenthood made the entire experience as ‘least bad’ as possible.”

About a year later, Lisa was pregnant again, and allowed me to care for her during her new pregnancy. Several days before her due date, she went into labor and delivered a healthy baby girl without complications. Lisa sends me a holiday card each year, letting me watch her daughter grow up.