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Preimplantation Value Neutrality

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Initially, the primary purpose of genetic counseling was to provide patients with an understanding of the genetic problems in their family that could be inherited by offspring. However, in the past few decades, goals have shifted to not just informing clients of the possible diseases of their offspring, but also to preventing the possibility of genetic disorders occurring through selective embryo implantation or even abortion. The main difference between these two approaches is that one provides the client mental and emotional ease of knowing the potential genetic disorders of his or her offspring, allowing the parents to make adequate adjustments around this information, while the other offers a more active approach with methods such as preimplantation …show more content…

Genetic counselors must be mindful that, at the other end of the spectrum, value judgments can frustrate and impair patient autonomy if the counselor expresses her own value without making clear that she has no greater expertise in making moral judgments than the patient (Wachbroit and Wasserman pp. 3). Similarly, a counselor, may seemingly violate value neutrality by emphasizing the harm or cost of a particular reproductive decision, which reveal the counselor’s own value’s . But highlighting what a patient may have ignored or misunderstood, especially if a costly and emotionally charged decision is around the bend, is a valuable contribution to the decision making process if, again, it is without judgment and ultimately value neutral (Wachbroit and Wasserman pp. …show more content…

One important function of the genetic counselor is to provide information on risk, but the communication on risk cannot be neutral (Wachbroit and Wasserman pp. 5). For example the risk of death versus survival resulting from surgery (Wachbroit and Wasserman pp. 5). How that is framed by the counselor is not neutral, and will necessarily reflect the counselor's worldview, but is does not have to undermine or limit the patient’s autonomy. Nor is autonomy impacted by setting limits on the scope of the testing to eliminate frivolous testing. Even though eye and hair color can be tested, “the genetic counselor can help ensure that the patient makes her own decision about whether to accept those values and undergo testing, but she cannot proclaim her complete neutrality with respect to them” (Wachbroit and Wasserman pp. 4). When providing genetic testing services, the doctor or counselor should follow a set of principles. The doctor is obligated to explain the procedures and their purposes, describe the risks and benefits to be expected, inform of other alternative (possibly advantageous) procedures, disclose the range of decisions the patient may have to make, and answer all questions openly and

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