New technologies create new complexities. Since non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) were first introduced, keeping pace with complexity constitutes an ongoing task for medical societies, politics, and practice. NIPTs analyse the chromosomes of the fetus from a small blood sample. Initially, NIPTs were targeted at detecting trisomy 21 (Down syndrome): meanwhile there are sequencing techniques capable of analysing the entire genome of the unborn child. These yield findings of unclear relevance for the child’s future life, resulting in new responsibility structures and dilemmas for the parents-to-be.The industry’s marketing strategies overemphasize the benefits of the tests while disregarding their consequences. This paper chooses the opposite path: starting with the underestimated consequences, it focuses on adverse developments and downsides. Disparities, paradoxes, and risks associated with NIPTs are illustrated, ethical conflicts described. Indications that new technologies developed to solve problems create new ones are examined. In the sense of critical thinking, seemingly robust knowledge is scrutinized for uncertainties and ambiguities. It analyses how the interplay between genetic knowledge and social discourse results in new dimensions of responsibility not only for parents-to-be, but also for decision-makers, authorities, and professional societies, illustrated by a review of different national policies and implementation programmes. As shown by the new NIPT policy in Norway, the consequences can be startling. Finally, a lawsuit in the United States illustrates how an agency can risk forfeiting its legitimation in connection with the inaccuracy of NIPTs.

Pränataldiagnostische Verfahren versprechen Sicherheit und Kontrolle im Übergang zur Elternschaft. Methoden, die das Ungeborene untersuchen, ohne es zu gefährden, sind hochgradig akzeptiert. Dazu gehören Ultraschall und – mit steigender Tendenz – frühe nicht-invasive Tests, die aus wenigen Millilitern mütterlichen Bluts die Chromosomen des Ungeborenen entschlüsseln. Der Zuwachs an Wissen bringt jedoch nicht nur Entlastung. Die Verantwortung werdender Eltern steigt und generiert Ambivalenzen und Dilemmata, die nicht widerspruchsfrei auflösbar sind. Wie Narrative und Appelle mit diesen Ambivalenzen interagieren und elterliche Verantwortung neu akzentuieren, wird anhand einer Diskursanalyse aufgezeigt.

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