When Christine Friesen of Calgary looks at her energetic 10-month-old son Joseph, she often thinks, "You almost weren't here." Mrs. Friesen and her husband, Mark, scheduled an abortion after being told their unborn child carried the mutated X chromosome associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an incurable disease characterized by degenerating muscle tissue. "I couldn't allow my son to slowly suffer from the disease that killed my brother," Mrs. Friesen says. However, when the clinic was unable to abort her pregnancy on the scheduled day, the Friesens changed their mind.

That minor inconvenience over a year ago has turned into a major blessing for the Friesens. To the surprise of experts across the country, Joseph was born completely healthy. Even her doctor, Mrs. Friesen says, wept in relief when the test results came back negative. Although she does not condemn women for choosing abortion in similar "rotten" circumstances, Mrs. Friesen warns that "anything can happen," especially since doctors are "only human." "It's sobering to think how close we came to not having Joseph," Mrs. Friesen remarks. "There isn't a day that goes by in which we're not thankful for him."

Medicine often guesses wrong. Over a year ago the unborn daughter of Lana and Arrigo Monai of Edmonton was diagnosed in utero with a rare genetic disorder and given a zero- to 5% chance of surviving. Despite lacking part of her fifth chromosome, Abigail defied the odds and entered the world breathing on her own. Although doctors feared she would suffer from heart disease, spina bifida, digestive disorders and mental deficiencies, Abigail appears to be a normal, healthy six-month-old today. "I feel sad for parents who choose abortion," Mrs. Monai says. "They'll live with a significant loss for the rest of their lives."

Genetic tests are frequently inaccurate, according to Will Johnston of Canadian Physicians for Life in B.C. Mr. Johnston points to the initial triple- serum screen, a test with an 8% chance of detecting potential problems 15 weeks into a pregnancy. Most of the positives, however, are later found out to be false. Dr. Johnston says this places mothers under unnecessary stress. "Ironically," he notes, "false positives are more of a problem than the genetic disorders the test is supposed to detect."

The length of time women must wait before receiving genetic test results is equally disturbing, according to 35-year-old Susan Murphy of Edmonton (not her real name). At 18-1/2 weeks into her pregnancy, Ms. Murphy was given an amniocentesis because of the higher risks associated with pregnancy at her age. Ms. Murphy was told, to her shock, that it would take four to six weeks to receive results because of a shortage of geneticists reading the blueprints. "Women are being forced into late-term abortions," Ms. Murphy says. "No one should have the procedure 20 to 22 weeks into their pregnancies. If I had known, I never would have done the test." Ms. Murphy says since reading the May 3 edition of this magazine she has decided not to abort her child, regardless of the test results.

Joanne Hatton of Morinville, president of Alberta Pro-Life, says that health authorities often convey the idea that babies with genetic defects have "massive grotesque disabilities." However, she points out, these children's conditions are often neither horrific nor lethal. "Our society has a misguided 'I can fix the world' attitude," Ms. Hatton observes. "We want so-called perfect babies."

Luc and Virginia Lefebvre of Edmonton say that if people could meet their son, they would never again question the human worth of disabled children. David was born with a diaphragmatic hernia which forced his stomach contents into his chest, crushing his right lung and displacing his heart. The infant barely clung to life after being induced and was ex-pected to die during surgery. However, Mr. Lefebvre says, David miraculously recovered. "The doctors were grinning from ear to ear when they told us our son was going to live," he says.

Although 4-1/2-year-old David is under 30 pounds and suffers from digestive problems and hearing loss, his father says he is "just about the happiest little guy you could find." David plays ball and has a natural agility, his father brags, even though doctors warned that he might never walk. "David is a tremendous amount of work," Mr. Lefebvre says. "But I can't over-emphasize what a beautiful addition he is to the family."

B.C. physician Johnston observes that parents often feel a pressure to act in what they imagine to be a socially "responsible" way when dealing with a crisis pregnancy. He says that because abortion is accessible on demand, people facing the heavy emotional and physical demands of raising an unhealthy or disabled child view it as an acceptable option. However, Dr. Johnston warns, "normal parents cannot participate in their child's death without suffering emotional fall-out." Even when a child is likely to die very young, he argues, women should be given access to information concerning the benefits of natural death rather than being encouraged to speed the process forward.

Margaret Brown, a Vancouver mother of two, agrees. Four years ago, she and her husband, David Senn, were placed in a situation where abortion seemed to be "the most reasonable, logical thing to do." Their unborn child was diagnosed with trisomy 13-a genetic disorder causing heart defects, brain damage and seizures-and given a maximum life expectancy of 10 days. Despite knowing that nothing could be done to save their baby, the couple refused to abort.

Their son Peter David was born on March 29, 1995, and died, without assistance, in his parents' arms six hours later. In a letter addressed to his son, Mr. Senn told Peter that he initially "seemed a cruel substitute for the baby [they'd] hoped for." However, Mr. Senn continued, "since you were born, I've realized I wouldn't want any other baby but you...Thank you for coming just as you were."

Ms. Brown says the time she spent cradling the infant and affirming his life allowed her to reach closure. She learned to cherish life that day, she says. "I was able to see, hold and love my son," Ms. Brown says. "In an odd way, it was a joyful thing."