Attitudes towards termination of pregnancy among Hong Kong Chinese women attending prenatal diagnosis counselling clinic.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the attitudes towards termination of pregnancy (TOP) among Hong Kong Chinese women attending the prenatal diagnosis counselling (PDC) clinic under three circumstances: (1) normal fetus, (2) fetal chromosomal anomalies, and (3) fetal abnormalities diagnosed after 24 weeks of gestation, and to determine the association between the attitudes and demographic factors.


METHODS
One hundred and twenty-two women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.


RESULTS
Over 50% of our women viewed it as their right to choose an abortion in early pregnancy and only 28.7% agreed that the doctor has the right to make the final decision. Approximately 90% would choose TOP for lethal chromosomal abnormalities and Down syndrome while about 50% would do so for Klinefelter or Turner syndromes. Over 80% were of the opinion that women should be given the right to choose TOP for lethal congenital malformation as well as for Down syndrome after 24 weeks of gestation. This figure dropped to 55.7% for non-lethal structural malformation that requires postnatal treatment. Religious background was a significant factor for a negative attitude towards TOP.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that our women who attended the PDC clinic had an open attitude towards TOP for fetal abnormalities in general.
Leung
Tse Ngong
TN
Fetal Medicine Team, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. dannytnleung@cuhk.edu.hk
Ching Chau
Macy Mo
MM
Chang
Joseph Jeremy
JJ
Leung
Tak Yeung
TY
Fung
Tak Yuen
TY
Lau
Tze Kin
TK
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires