How do carriers of hemophilia and their spouses experience prenatal diagnosis by chorionic villus sampling?

A semistructured personal interview with 29 female carriers of hemophilia and 23 of their spouses was performed at a median of 3 1/2 years after the first chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and gene analysis. Carriers with a hemophilic father or brother, had high sense of coherence (SOC) scores, and thus would be expected to have good ability to handle the stress of prenatal diagnosis (PD). Prenatal diagnosis of hemophilia by CVS was generally well accepted by the women and their spouses. However, the period while waiting for test results was experienced as emotionally troublesome by both the women and their spouses; women reporting significantly more psychiatric or psychosomatic symptoms than men. Positive effects resulting from participation by the spouse on how the women experienced PD could not be identified. Selective abortion after first trimester PD was clearly experienced as emotionally painful by both the women and their spouses, these reactions being similar to, but not as pronounced as those found after second trimester selective abortion. Notably, signs of depressive mood were observed several years after the abortion, and the provision of psychosocial support should be recommended for couples who decide upon termination of pregnancy following PD.