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Objectives: To identify and describe threats to informed decision-making at key junctures of the Down syndrome (DS) determination experience., Methods: We conducted 32 narrative interviews with 42 participants (10 couples and 22 individuals). Participants relayed their stories of receiving their child's or a prospective child's DS determination. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically., Results: We identified the following 5 threats to informed decision-making: routinization of screening, screening for reassurance's sake, equating an openness to screening with an openness to testing and termination, misunderstanding and miscommunicating about probability, and a lack of up-to-date, accurate, neutral information., Conclusions: The results contribute to an existing body of literature on the DS determination experience with a uniquely Canadian lens. The threats outline how well-intended counselling can ultimately undermine reproductive autonomy and informed decision-making. With knowledge of how these seemingly harmless behaviours threaten informed decision-making and reproductive autonomy, care providers can modify their counselling to lessen their impact., (Copyright © 2023 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Parents of children with Down syndrome (DS) were interviewed about if their experiences raising their children matched their initial assumptions about parenting a child with DS. A dominant narrative was identified, wherein most parents described initially having negative assumptions, which did not come to fruition; parenting their child was not very different from parenting a typical child. There was also a sub-group of participants who disputed the dominant narrative; parenting their child was challenging and the dominant narrative marginalizes that experience. The findings indicate that although for many parents, having a child with DS is like " taking the scenic route " (i.e., it involves a few more hurdles, but often more rewards), this framing is not always applicable. Therefore, health care providers and support organizations should promote a narrative that encompasses the diversity of parenting a child with DS.