Prenatal diagnosis in the form of cytogenetic analysis of cultured fetal cells was introduced in the early 1970's in the Nordic countries. The total number of analyses carried out in 1970-1990 was approximately 70,000 in Denmark, which has the largest number of investigations, and approximately 7,500 in Norway having the lowest rate per 1,000 live births. Since the 1970's there has been access to induced abortions in all the Nordic countries. Table III shows the total number of analyses during 1988-1990 as well as total number of prenatal investigations per 1,000 live births. Table IV presents the percentage of chorionic samples in relation to the total number of investigations and Table VI shows the number of induced abortions in pregnancies with prenatally diagnosed abnormal fetuses. An English version of the article can be obtained from the authors.