ARC's History

1988 The charity SATFA (Support After Termination for Abnormality) was established and formally registered by a group of health professionals and bereaved parents with the following remit:

‘Support after Termination for Abnormality is an organisation which has recently been granted charitable status for the purpose of giving individual and group support to women and their families, who have undergone a termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality. It is intended that SATFA will establish a national network of self-help support groups as well as work with health professionals in the improvement of practice and services to women during their time in hospital and discharge into the community.’

1993 We became Support Around Termination for Abnormality – ‘helping parents who discover that their baby is abnormal’ as more parents came to the organisation when a diagnosis had been made in their unborn baby, wanting support and information to help them make painful decisions.

1998 We changed our name to Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) to take account of the rise in contacts from people wanting information and support on all aspects of antenatal screening and testing.

‘The new name reflects significant changes that have occurred in antenatal testing and in the needs of parents and professionals over the past ten years. When the charity was formed its focus was on parents who chose to terminate the pregnancy after discovering that their unborn baby had a major abnormality. The significant changes in antenatal testing and the demand from parents has led to the expansion of the role of the charity.’

Today ARC employs a Director, a National Support Co-ordinator, a Liaison and Development Co-ordination, a Membership and Administration Co-ordinator and an Administrative Assistant. ARC is managed by a board of 13 Trustees.

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ARC's History