Therapeutic Abortion for Fetal Genetic Abnormalities

Therapeutic abortion refers to the termination of pregnancy before the life of the fetus, to preserve the mother's health or due to fetal abnormoalities. In developed countries, therapeutic abortion is allowed for medical reasons with the permission of the government and is recognized as one of the safest procedures in medicine to preserve the mother's health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of fetal geneticnabnormalities as reasons for issuing therapeutic abortion licenses in Ilam province between March ۲۰۲۲ and February ۲۰۲۳. Data of this cross-sectional study collected from the files of ۱۰۵ pregnant mothers who reffers to the legal medicine organization of Ilam province. The analysis revealed that ۶۷ cases resulted in therapeutic abortion due to fetal abnormalities. The most common fetal abnormalities leading to therapeutic abortion were central nervous system anomaly (۲۰ cases), Down syndrome (۱۴ cases), beta-thalassemia major (۹ cases), and hydrops fetalis (۶ cases). The present study's findings highlight the crucial importance of genetic counseling and prenatal genetic testing to prevent the birth of children with genetic abnormalities and the associated treatment costs for both the family and government.

Keywords:

Therapeutic Abortion , Genetic Abnormality , Fetal