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@Autumnmama79: I think for me one of the deciding factors is that I actually don't know what I would do if the baby did have an abnormality. If I was certain that I would take action I'd probably be more willing to pay out of pocket to have a definitive answer.

@Autumnmama79: I was considered a "high risk AMA" mama when I had DS (* I was 35 when he was born) and will be the same IF I ever actually conceive (* I am also 39). I'm hoping this cycle of Follistim and TI/ICI does it for me!
With both my DD (* I had her at 28) and DS, I was told Amniocentesis was the best testing option for me (due to having seizure disorder and multiple autoimmune diseases). It was covered by insurance both times even though I was living in different states for each pregnancy; however, I live in the US. My cousin (36 years of age) lives in Quebec and her NIPT was covered. Certain tests were covered for her and others were not based on the criteria of AMA and the fact that she was extremely healthy. I wonder why they are not covering yours? 🤷‍♀️

@Autumnmama79: Thank you!
I remember that our LOs are close in age, as are we. As for your insurance, I would definitely call and check.

I am 35, and am very newly pregnant (4 weeks!) with a due date after my 36th birthday. Not sure if I will do NIPT or not. If this sticks, I am more worried about fetal echo then anything else. I think I read somewhere that AMA is over 40 in some countries so that is somehow putting my mind at ease about chromosomal abnormalities.

I did it with my last pregnancy (i was 37). My insurance covered it but i still got a bill for like 400 dollars. (Supposedly the test costs like a grand or something) i just called them and it was 200.

So try calling the testing place directly. It was nice because i knew pretty early that every thing was fine and we knew the gender at 13 weeks for sure. No educated guessing like in an US.

@Autumnmama79: The easygoing part is just my personality. I was accused of being a second time mom with my first pregnancy as I was just too calm.

Other than down syndrome, I would almost guarantee TFMR. My sister had birth defects and a 9 month old could do more than she could. She occasionally made noises, but didn't roll over or sit up and was spoon fed baby food. My parents were able to keep my brother and my life mostly normal, but I wouldn't do that to my kids. If a baby's life wouldn't be very good, I'd let them go peacefully.

I’m 35 and pregnant with #3. I’ve been feeling super nervous this pregnancy, I think because I have two healthy children so I feel like I’m sort of rolling the dice having a third baby. Also I know a few people recently whose babies have chromosomal abnormalities that we’re not picked up on even with the anatomy u/s. For this reason I paid for the NIPT out of pocket. It came back extremely low risk but I still know there are things that cannot be picked up with the NIPT so we will see...

I'm going to weigh in here at the risk of scaring everyone to death, but I suppose I have a unique perspective.

We did NIPT on our first pregnancy (age 38) and it was normal. I think insurance covered all but $80 or so due to age. We did it thinking that we wouldn't terminate even if something came back abnormal, but it would be good to know if we were facing a baby with extreme special needs or something to make childcare/career plans in advance. That NIPT came back normal.

On Baby #2, I was 39, and opted to do the NIPT again, for the same reason - not thinking we would ever terminate, but wanting to know for planning purposes so that DH and I could make some decisions. As many of you know it came back + for T21, confirmed by CVS, and we ended up terminating. I can tell you that how you think you'd react and the things you think about are much different (your perspective changes) once you are faced with that reality. You run through scenarios and consider things you'd never thought about pre-results. So there's that...

And as a physician, I also think it's good information for your medical team to have to be able to prepare and make decisions (earlier ultrasounds, in utero treatments, etc).