Her daughter is about 2 years old! So pretty recent. Her daughter is her second child. She had a healthy and uncomplicated first pregnancy. So, for her second, she just had the basic screenings and tests done. These typically include general blood work in the first trimester (many places do not even conduct an NIPT blood test unless there is an indication), an anatomy scan at 20 weeks (ultrasound where they take basic measurements of the baby), and a gestational diabetes screening at 28 weeks. Nothing came up out of the ordinary. Many places will not conduct ultrasounds or further blood tests at the end of pregnancy unless there is a need to.
It was a shock when her daughter was born. She very eloquently put it that it was as if she had planned her whole life to tour Italy. She steps off the plane, and instead finds herself in New Zealand. Also an incredible place, but one she doesn't know the beauty of yet. And even though it is still the trip of a lifetime, it is natural to mourn the trip you'd been dreaming of.
I am published in a scientific journal. Though I did not ultimately pursue academia as a career, I have the utmost respect for research. That being said, I also was having intense health issues for over 6 years before I was finally diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Those 6 years did permanent damage to my spine. It is viewable on an x-ray. However, many screening tests ordered by a variety of specialists missed the answer for many years. So though our advances in science and technology are great, we are not as in control as we'd like to think we are.
Edit: fixed typos; Also, I want to add that I know that many places do not conduct an NIPT without cause, because I gave birth this year. For my child, we didn't find out the sex until the 20 weeks anatomy scan. The general blood test screenings did not warrant an NIPT which would have allowed us to learn the the sex as a byproduct of the chromosomal analysis.