Negotiating severity behind the scenes: prenatal testing in Germany.

ABSTRACT: Foetal-related severity is a key concept in policy and legislation relating to access to both reproductive technologies and selective abortions in many countries around the world, but not in Germany. This study sheds light on how 'severity' in the context of prenatal testing is understood and negotiated within the particular socio-cultural and legal context of Germany, where 'severity' relating to foetal clinical findings neither counts as a justification to implement population prenatal screening programs, nor as a legal ground to terminate pregnancy. This study explores the views of women who undergo prenatal testing, as well as of professionals who encounter them, through semi-structured interviews. It showcases how they frame severity and questions whether the existing legal and regula

SUBMITTER: Nov-Klaiman T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11839981 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature