At the moment, pregnant women in the United Kingdom are offered an ultrasound scan and a blood test to assess the chances that their developing child will have a genetic abnormality. If the test comes back and shows that an abnormality is likely, then diagnostic tests must be performed to confirm the existence of any genetic conditions.

Many women eschew the more invasive diagnostic tests because they carry a risk of miscarriage and must be performed after the first trimester. But all that may change very soon if non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) becomes available for all pregnant women through the National Health Service, the U.K.’s nationalized health care system.