A controversial and emotional medical advance this year may one day allow parents to test for signs of Down syndrome as early as 12 to 13 weeks into the first trimester.

The noninvasive blood test called SEQureDX, developed by the San Diego-based company Sequenom, can be administered as early as 12 to 13 weeks into the first trimester.

Current tests may be carried out at around 18 weeks of pregnancy, but carry a higher risk for the mother and the baby. An estimated 87 percent of all women carrying a child with Down syndrome don't learn the news until delivery.

One in every 733 babies -- or around 5,500 each year -- is born with Down syndrome, the most common genetic condition in the United States, causing an array of physical and mental challenges for both child and parents.

Controversy surrounds the question of whether an early pregnancy test would or should encourage parents to abort Down syndrome infants. According to reporting by ABCNews.com, about 90 percent of women who learn they are carrying a child with Down syndrome end their pregnancies.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/YearInReview/Story?id=6512364&page=3