Postive AFP Test

There are many false positives for this test. My last baby was positive but he does not have downs and is a very smart little boy! He's a grade above his peers. So don't let this test freak you out.

Hi A.,

One out of 33 percent is quite a small number. Then you factor in the fact that these tests traditionally have a high percentage of error. Unless you have a reason to know what is going on, don't risk more tests. I have had several friends tell me that an amniocentesis told them their child would be Down's syndrome. None of the tests were correct. These types of tests are considered safe in the mainstream medical community but if you talk to a midwife or even a nurse practitioner, you'll find they recommend against them for the safety of the baby.

A., please don't worry. Worry and stress are the worst things for your little one (and you). Relax and enjoy your pregnancy and when the day comes, appreciate your little one and who he is.

God bless!

M.

A. I'm so sorry that your Dr. didn't try to explain to you exactly what this means or offer you any comfort or relief....as if you don't already have enough? I was pregnant with Twins and upon my research I found out that the particular test can give you a "false" positive-of course this was also seven years ago and this was typical in multiple pregnancy. I decided NOT to have the test because I didn't want to have to sit there and worry the remainder of my pregnancy and its not like at that point I would have decided to abort-never would I do such a thing personally but I just didn't want all those options being thrown at me and told this and that and then in the end the babies be "okay". I put my trust in God and he gave me two healthy baby girls. I had them at 36 weeks and they weighed 6 lbs and 5lb 10oz and never went to NICU or anything.
I believe I made the right choice....with all the other stressors involved being pregnant for the first time and with that TWINS, would I be able to carry to term, would they have to be in NICU for months to months, so many things crossed my mind and caused me to stress so I couldn't imagine adding something else to the mix that could potentially be incorrect. If it were a 100% then that may have been different. There are other steps to be made first so don't stress too much about it right now. Remember that God isn't going to put anything else on you that you can't handle. God chooses special people for special things. Just as he chose me to have twins it may be within his plans for you to have this child with a special need-things have changed out there too. There is a lot more help and understanding than there used to be. It wouldn't be the end of the world...every life is important and serves a purpose. I pray that God gives you a healthy baby though and I know its not easy NOT to stress out when they give this information to you but you need to do some research on this as well so you have a better understanding since your Doctor was kind enough not to explain it to you in full detail and at that left it to the nurse to talk to you?? Who does that? I think I would find another OB personally or at the very least talk to the specialist but like I said do your research first so if you have anymore questions or concerns when you go to see the specialist you have already done your homework. Good luck sweetie and trust in the one that gave you the gift in the first place. You can get through ALL things with him regardless of what the results are. Good luck and in my prayers.

I personally do not have any of the extra tests done that are not required. The test for the down syndrome are not always correct. My doctor said that a lot of false positives show up. I believe that no matter what the test would say its not going to change my feelings about the pregnancy so what is the point of getting worked up about something that is not 100% accurate.
good luck

Hello, I can't give any advice or answers for the AFP test and the percentages of your child have Down Syndrome, but I can tell you that our little grandaughter has it and she is the love of all of our lives. Our older grandsons (ages 7, 11 and 14) are so good with her and just adore her. She has already taught them acceptance and they can't wait for her to be able to talk and walk. She is 19 months old and is delayed in her physical abilities, on track with her cognitive thinking, and ahead of other 19 month olds (by at least 6 months) with her social skills. She draws strangers wherever we go. She is pretty and very pleasant to be around. She was not the end of the world as some might think. She was the beginning.
Remember that although you are being told that there is a 1 out of 33 chance that your child has Down Syndrome, that means there are still 32 chances that he/she doesn't.
Good luck with your precious little child.
K. K.

I also at 19 and pregnant with my first child (this was 16 years ago) had a positive AFP test. I decided not to have an amnio because my thought and feelings were, god will only give me what he knows i can handle. (my daughter was as healthy as an ox and 7 days late) If it was meant to be that i had a child with down syndrome, then so be it! Down syndrome babies/children are people too! But everyone has their own opinions on this situation. AFP's provide ALOT of false positives. But ultimately the decision is up to you. If it doesnt matter to you whether the baby does or does not have down syndrome, than don't get the amnio! You will love the baby either way! Again just my opinion, i would talk to your mom or older role model in your life to get some much needed support/advice. Good luck

I believe that your next choice is to have an amnio, which can give you a more definitive answer, but carries a slight risk of miscarriage. If you know you would keep the baby no matter what, then you might want to pass on the amnio. If you think you would have an abortion if the baby had downs syndrome, you probably want to have an amnio to confirm.

At your age, the chance of a false positive are greater than the chance of a child being born with downs, but it can still happen. The choice is up to you, but you should think about your own desires and beliefs, and then discuss your options with your doctor. Good luck.

That test is known to provide a lot of false positives, from what I recall, the false results can occur most often in cases where the fetus' exact age (in weeks) is not definitely known... Hence if the baby is slightly older than what the test is geared for (as in, the older fetus produces a higher hormone/chemical presence than what the test expects), it can throw the results off and come out positive when in fact it's not.

It has never happened to me, but my good friend had a false positive from this test and the baby did not have Downs--it was a perfectly healthy baby.
I don't want to totally discount the test (I am not a nurse or doctor), but try not to stress over it until you have more conclusive information.

How far along are you? I was under the assumption that just a normal ultrasound, done far enough along (20+ weeks) would be able to tell you if you were or not too because they can see if the hands are more "club like" and if the neck is elongated.
I would advise to RELAX and NOT stress out. Your wonderful little baby either does or does not have down syndrome, and worrying will only hurt the both of you.
I would also advise against the amnio- only because in my personal opinion I would keep the baby no matter what, and theres not much to "plan" for because down syndrome babies follow the normal growth/learning curve that other babies do until they're 3 or 4 I believe.
Whatever you decide, remember to try to stay calm and keep those nerves at bay (harder than it sounds, I know).
We're all there for you!!! :)
OH, and also, when I went in for my ultrasound (19 weeks) they said my little one had a chance of being down syndrome bc they saw a couple cysts in his brain but that since I was younger (24) and had no family history, I really don't have anything to worry about. My son is a happy, healthy 16 month old now. No down syndrome, just happy and healthy. :)

If it's important to you to find out (and regardless of what you would do, I think it's pretty important to know if you are having a special needs child so you can be prepared for all that entails), then you need to have amniocentesis. I had one with my last child after the quad screen showed an elevated risk for Down's. None of the other screening tests can tell you for sure, but an amnio DOES tell you, without a doubt. IT IS 100% POSITIVE in its results for gender and many issues -not just Down's Syndrome.

This test has a high rate of false positives. I refused it for my pregnancy because of that - also if our child did have Downs Syndrome, we'd have loved her exactly the same anyway. Don't stress about it.

AFP was positive. Got Level 2 ultrasound. Declined Amnio. Have a healthy little boy. This comes up SO often on Mamasource, if there is a way to search past questions I recommend doing so.

I had a positive test and my baby boy was born just fine. We met with the genetic counselor and they offered me an amniocentesis. I did not have the amnio because I felt that either way we were blessed with this gift and it didn't really make a difference knowing or not. It did add a little extra stress at the time, which is why I plan on denying the screening whenever I have another baby. My advice to you is to do whatever it is that feels right for you and your baby. Don't stress and remember to enjoy your pregnancy. Best of luck to you and your little one=)

Hi - my afp came back positive for something called Trisomy 18. A horrible condition and I worried for a week about it until I got an amnio. It was not Trisomy 18, but something called Turner Syndrome (1 in 2,500 births) Normal intelligence, normal life span, yet some delays in speech & motor skills. Although an amnio is not fun, it is the only conclusive test. Also, although I would not have terminated the pregnancy based on any of these tests, I feel it is better to know what is going on than think everything is fine and find out after the baby is born. Good luck.

AFP tests have an extremely high false-positive rate. Many people get positive results and go on to healthy babies (not to say that a baby with downs syndrome can not be healthy) just mean that the AFP test is not definitive. Ask your heart. Love your baby. Get support.

Why do they tell everybody that they just try and scare people you will probably have to go see a specialist and get a 4 D sono done to check the baby we actually got to find out the sex of our baby a little early cause of this. Please please don't be stressed out about this until you know for sure. God Bless.

Please take a deep breath and relax. I had a false positive on my AFP test. I was older than you, but I freaked out. My next step was genetic counseling that I actually went with my sister in law because she knew so much about my husbands family (genetically speaking). I was a little more relaxed after that since there really were no genetic issues with either side of our families. Then I had the amino. The actual procedure was nothing compared to what I had dreamt up in my mind. It really isn't bad at all. I think it took a couple weeks to get the results of the amino which is the longest wait in the world. And everything was normal. Sit down, relax (the stress is worse than anything else for the baby) and schedule the amino with your doctor. Chances are the baby will be fine and the results were just off!

I had my third child at 35 and I had a high AFP test. They did an amniocentises (I don't know how to spell it) It turned out to be nothing. So don't get too freaked out before you know for sure.

Hi A. - these are statistical tests and truthfully arent very valuable in my opinion. They can vary a lot based on the numbers they input. My advice, dont freak out - your baby is probably fine. They will have you do a Level 2 ultrasound and possibly an amnio.

I had triple screen done with my first and it showed greatly increased risk for Trisomy 18 (Downs is Trisomy 13). Tri18 is horrible and if kids survive past birth, they have profound retardation etc. Needless to say, I freaked out. We had an amnio done and my son was 100% normal. There was no correlation at all between the screening results and my son's condition.

My good friend had screen done and her test showed 70% risk of Downs. Her daughter was 100% normal too.

Wait to see what the results show and then go from there. I wish you all the best and congratulations on your pregnancy!

Hi A.,

First of all, congrats on your first child! When the nurse gave you your results she should have scheduled an appt. for you with the genetic counselor. You should also be getting an ultrasound where they will take measurements of the baby's neck to see if they fall in line with what the blood results say. At this point, I wouldn't worry too much until you get the next AFP blood test. They will compare the two and give you another result.

The reason I can calmly tell you this is because this first blood result can be a false positive. I had the test come back positive and when going over all the results with the genetic counselor, we found that the lab had my weight completely wrong which gave a wrong result. Be sure you find out if all the stats on you are correct and make doubly sure you talk with a genetic counselor.

Good Luck and keep us all posted!

Lots of hugs,

A. T.

You should really talk to your doctor about this and have them explain the results.
Generally speaking these tests are simply assessing your risk for having a fetus with certain sets of genetic defects. Though most of us know that they assess the risk for Down Syndrome, the screening can also indicate a higher risk for several other issues (for example Trisomy 18).
Here is how it works. At twenty, your age related risk of having a child with Down's is roughly 1 in 1500 or so. Now you take into consideration the results from your blood test and nowadays also from an measurements of an ultrasound performed around 12 weeks (if you had it done, if not only blood levels) and calculate your personal odds - let's say 1 in 33.
Now you should receive genetic counseling explaining to you what the results mean and what options you have. Most OB/GYNs will suggest that you get an amnio, if your results are indeed as above. Generally an amnio would be suggested if the risk calculated from your screening results are significantly higher than your age related risk. An amnio is the only way to reliably diagnose Down Syndrome before the baby is born.

You also have to consider what you want. Is a positive amnio going to affect your decision to carry to term? Are you willing to undergo the procedure and risk possible side effects?

This is a situation were you would bring along your husband or partner and sit down with your doctor for a good long time. Bring a list of questions you may have and don't hesitate to ask more. If you regular OB/GYN is not cooperative or does not have the time you need to talk, don't feel shy about getting yourself referred to someone who does.

Good luck.

You should know that the number of down syndrome births in the general population is around 1 per 800 births. According to this test you MAY have a 3 in 100 chance of having a child with down syndrome.

First things first, EVEN if they are right and that is your risk it's not very likely that your child has down syndrome. The next thing is that I have known many women who, like you, tested for an increased risk of having a baby with down syndrome. They all worried their entire pregnancies. None of them had a baby with down syndrome. On the other hand I also have a few friends, for whom the AFP did not show any increased risk, who ended up having children with down syndrome.

As a result of those experiences I opted out of the AFP with each of my 4 pregnancies. Because, in addition to questioning the accuracy of the test, I would not do anything different in a pregnancy with a baby who had down syndrome than I would with a "normal" pregnancy.. well, except worry.
Your risk is low. You will love your baby no matter what. So take a deep breath and assume they are wrong. You can cross that bridge IF you find you have to when the baby is born.

I just wanted to add to the MANY responses stating they had false positives. I also had a positive result, had genetic counseling, declined the amnio and gave birth to the most normal and beautiful little girl. My next child I declined the test altogether. I've spoken to so many women who have had false positives. In my opinion it's not worth the stress. Good luck with your pregnancy! Try to relax and enjoy!

you can
have an abortion
ask for an amnio to get a more conclusive answer
continue w/ the pregnancy-leave it in God's hands

Only you can make this decision, Down's isn't common for a 20 yr old. if you know you can care for a child w/ special needs, then it doesn't matter. and afp tests frequently give a false positive.

OH I am not a dr. or anything so of course please consult them for your best answer, but I did not have this test bc of many different reasons the one that matters to you at this point is that those tests are not accurate at all. really they are not they really cant be sure that your baby will have DS and even if they are sure they do not know to what degree your child may or may not have it, there are many different levels of it from (layman terms of course) very little non noticable to full blown. If they are really worried they might suggest an amino (long needle inserted into your belly to get a measure of the fluid to get a more accurate test reading on this)....but do ask about those and be sure it is something that you want bc there are risks involved w/ that. basically if you do not have risk factors of having it, do not want to risk doing an amniocentesis, then I would not worry too much...that is why these tests are tricky bc they are not accurate and now you are worried. if your baby would be DS and there is nothing you would do about it anyways, then it really does not matter bc I am sure you will love them just as much. Lastly if you are still worried then do some research about DS.....good luck and talk to your dr. more as that might put you at ease. xo