Just wondered if there were any stats on this re selective abortions being used to terminate dwarf babies in the last 20 year so vs 30-40 years ago?
Hmm… I don’t have stats… but…
First of all, I don’t think there’s a standard test for dwarfism administered on a regular basis. So it wouldn’t be tested for unless there’s a reason to suspect the problem might occur. Not all forms of dwarfism are genetic dominants, but several are, so the only way a normal size parents who generate one is if the mutation occured spontaneously - at which point they might test in subsequent pregnancies.
Now, if one of the two parents was a dwarf there is then a 50% chance of passing it on in some of these disorders – but with one parent a dwarf, would such a couple be quick to abort? And if BOTH parents are dwarves, the same would apply (and dwarf couples can and do have offspring of normal height).
So I doubt there’s much fetal testing for dwarfism going on. It’s a fairly rare thing outside of families where it’s a known risk. And, frankly, quite a few people don’t feel that dwarfism is a valid reason to abort - either because they opposed all abortion, or because they don’t think it’s a serious enough defect by itself alone to warrant abortion.
So… probably there have been a few proto-dwarves aborted, but for the most part, no, I don’t think “fetal testing” has made much difference.
there is one type of dwarfism that is a dominant gene but if both parents provide the gene it produces a child who isnt able to live more than a few days. With two parents who have this type of dwarfism there would be a one in four chance of producing an unviable child. I do not know if they can test for that type of genetic codeing.