urgent help with pregnancy

i'm having a problem in my pregnancy and unfortunately the doctors don't even have any answers for me and i'm panicking with the situation.

i'm 20 weeks pregnant and i hardly have any amniotic fluid, probably due to the fetus' kidneys being enlarged. the doctor in the hospital sent me to my gynecologist (who isn't available for the next few weeks) to contemplate abortion which isn't an option for me. they couldn't tell me the reasons or the risks or survival chances. all they know is that the kidneys are enlarged and there is hardly amniotic fluid and he said the chances of the baby surviving with little amniotic fluid are very slim.
any information you can give me will really be appreciated,
thank you for your time

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi! Unfortunately, what I have to say is not very good.  I have listed two sites for you to check out for information about what I think your baby may have. Since I have limited information ( so do you) I'm not sure which type of kidney disease the baby has, and so I can't predict what the outcome will be.  It will be extremely important for you to get as much information as possible though, because the condition may be hereditary and could happen again in future pregnancies.
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/polycystic/
http://www.centrus.com.br/DiplomaFMF/SeriesFMF/18-23-weeks/chapter-08/renalfmf.htm
The reason that the kidneys are so important to the fetus is not their function of clearing waste products, the mom can do that for them, but rather their production of the amniotic fluid around the baby.  This fluid is breathed in and out of the developing lungs and is necessary to help the lungs develop and grow properly.  Babies without normal kidneys do not produce enough fluid, and when they are born their lungs are so poorly developed that they cannot breath properly.
I have heard of some very rare cases in which the doctors attempted to put fluid into the amniotic sac, so that is something to inquire about.
I STRONGLY recommend that you see both a perinatologist and a genetic counselor, and ask every question you can think of and make them keep explaining until you fully understand what is going on (that is their job!).
Good luck!
Dr B