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
| Given a situation related to reproductive genetics, genetic research, or the human genome project, develop a set of legal and ethical guidelines, which can be applied to genetic issues for the conduct of medical practice and/or research.
The perfect combination of research, personal connection, and health care. Genetic Counseling is the practice of informing and advising patients who may have a potential risk of genetic disorders concerning appropriate testing methods, medical treatment, and many other critical decisions concerning their health. I have chosen to pursue the career of genetic counseling because it fulfills the dream I have had that I will one day be able to do research concerning genetics and interact with the patients that the research would affect. My decision to become a genetic counselor has been influenced by many factors; including my high school biology class, which played a part in introducing me to the profession, and my personal discovery of the unique
In chapter four of her book Genetic Dilemmas, Dena Davis asserts that it is unethical for parents to subject their children to genetic testing for the markers of adult-onset genetic diseases because it places an unfair constraint on a child’s right to an open future. It both removes the child’s ability to choose whether to be tested as an adult and has the potential to negatively alter the overall trajectory of their lives. While the current consensus amongst medical professionals is that such testing should be prohibited (Davis, _____), many concerned parents correctly point out that discouraging such testing creates a conflict of interests between the “beneficence model of patient care and the rights of parents to their own autonomy”
Modern medicine now relies more and more on genetic science, so the demand for health care professionals who can assess and communicate these health issues is significantly increasing. This is because public awareness is growing in conjunction with scientific advances in reproductive technologies. Health care consumers now want genetics specialists who can provide highly accurate and advanced consultations regarding their unique genetic conditions. Most genetic counselors work with couples or single mothers who
Genetic Counselling is used to provide support advice and information about genetic conditions. This could include learning about the health condition that runs in the family and how it is inherited and who can be affected by it. An
According to Berger (2014), a patient can receive genetic counseling to learn more about a condition/disease he or she may possibly be at risk for and may possibly pass onto their children (p. 88). A genetic counselor is educated and trained to describe to the patient the condition/disease, the benefits and drawbacks for taking the genetic test, the test results’ meaning, and how having the condition could affect their future children (Berger, 2014, p. 88). Then, the patient – not the genetic counselor – makes decisions about his or her next steps with respect to all the information they have been provided by the genetic counselor (Berger, 2014, p. 89).
When people experience genetic tests, privacy incorporates the privilege to make an educated, free choice about whether others may know points of interest of their genome, e.g., insurance, businesses, instructive foundations, spouses and other relatives, scientists, and social agencies. This incorporates a privilege to settle on certain conceptive decisions, for example, regardless of whether to utilize genetic testing. It likewise incorporates a privilege to reject treatment. A couple of court choices discover security for such data under the established precept of security, yet more ordinarily, security assurance against revelation of individual data is found under customary law tort principle. (7) Moreover, there is a federal privacy act, (8) and in addition state statutes ensuring
When people have a genetic test done, whether it is presymptomatic, prenatal, newborn, or carrier testing, professionals have the ability to access them. This becomes a main concern of those who get genetic tests done because they have the capability of being dropped by their employer or insurance The companies cannot discard a person because of their genetic predispositions, but they can find loopholes to get rid of them legally. Direct-to-Consumer tests, however, cannot be accessed by employers or insurance companies without consent. “Thanks to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) signed into law in 2008, consumers need not worry about the impacts on their health insurance policy and employee status as a result of pursuing DTC genetic testing” (Su 1). This way, a person can understand their genetic predisposition without the fear of being dropped by an insurance or an employer.“The initial criticism of DTC genetic testing highlighted harms from both advertising of tests and access to tests in the absence of a health care provider intermediary” (Javitt and Hudson 2), but Direct-to-consumer tests remove the fear of outside companies finding out about their susceptibilities to genetic diseases. Many people believe Direct-to-consumer tests can be inaccurate, but with the extensive knowledge of DNA, and what is not discovered, there will be mistakes whether it is done by a medical professional or not.
In this critique, I will be discussing my opinion on Mr. Pollard’s article about genetic screening. These genetic screening began in the 1960’s and since then they have found themselves in the middle of major controversy throughout the years (Press, 2008). Genetic screening a series of test performed when a mother is pregnant in order to figure out whether or not her child may have a developing disorder. Some genetic screening are also performed after the baby is born. Genetic screening can play a major role in personal parenting decisions and medical treatment if and when deemed necessary. Although genetic screening has much debate surrounding it, testing for any potential disorders and diseases can be live saving.
In the case of the relationship between GC and consultand, items discussed would include: medical history, genetic history, family history, and risk assessment. If a consultand is seeing a GC that specializes in cancer, cancer will be the main focus of that conversation. If a consultand is seeing pre-natal counselor, family histories of miscarriages, autosomal disorders, and congenital malformations will be the topics of conversation. The influence of genetics on the life of the consultand is the main goal of the professional relationship. This kind of relationship is also defined by its limitations. According to the National Society of Genetic Counselors, a genetic counselor is someone who uses “the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological, and familial implications of the genetic contributions to disease”. These main goals of a genetic counselor outline the limitations of the relationship. All professions that involve one on one interaction with clients or patients have a limited skill set, and therefore a limited
Deciding to start a family is a huge decision for any couple, and an enormous decision for a couple that carries a gene for a known genetic disorder. For the purpose of this discussion, I will discuss what services genetic counseling can offer a couple who are carries of a genetic disorder prior to having children. Next I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of genetic counseling. Lastly, I will discuss how to provide psychosocial support for couples.
Prior to giving birth, most women wonder what their “bun in the oven” will look like and what their personality will be. Will he have his grandma 's button nose and his dad 's auburn hair? Will she have her mom 's strawberry blonde ringlets and her great-grandpa 's piercing blue eyes? Maybe he will have his grandma 's sense of humor, or maybe she will have gotten her grandpa 's calm temperament. These are just some of the questions people ponder over while awaiting the birth of a new baby. Some others, however, fret over the arrival of their new bundle of joy. With diseases floating around in the family gene pool, no one offers any condemnation to the potential parents for panicking in despair over their forthcoming child. In the future, these questions will likely be rendered irrelevant, all due to a procedure called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is a process in which embryos are created through IVF (in vitro fertilization) and are tested to identify any genetic defects said embryo may possess in order to prevent certain disorders or diseases from being transmitted to the offspring before being implanted in the uterus. This may appear to be a noble action if a defective gene has somehow managed to sneak into the family gene pool, but it is all only a facade to conceal the appalling truth. Not only does the process of tweaking genes jeopardize health, it is saturated in moral and social
In my point of view, genetic counseling is an essential program which should be integrated within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially with the huge evolution that the country is passing through, despite the modern ideology adopted by the youth who tend to follow traditional views when it comes to matrimony.
Genetic engineering is a powerful and potentially very dangerous tool. To rearrange and change the sequence of nucleotides of the DNA that code for the structure of a complex living organism, can partake in extremely negative effects, although the potential benefits can be extremely beneficial. Before advances in genetic applications, gene therapy was not very popular and genetic imperfections or diseases were always hereditary, afflicting future generations. “Genetic engineering is the manipulation of an organism's genome through biotechnology or modern molecular techniques. It is also called genetic modification, although that term is understood by scientists to encompass older processes such as hybridization as well. With the wealth of possibilities now offered by newly developed gene-editing tools - particularly CRISPR-Cas9 - debates about the safe and appropriate uses of GE are becoming more heated.” (ProQuest, Reboot) Today, genetic testing is widely available, such as prenatal karyotyping of chromosomes to check for genetic abnormalities, altering embryos in order to get rid of potential diseases or viruses, and lastly, creating the “perfect being”. Genetic testing is also useful for families in which a family history concludes that certain disorders are known to exist and will have a chance of affecting the family, commonly when there are expected to be children in the future. They can use genetical engineering for their kids who have a chance of
In the past, if two potential parents were aware of a genetic disease which ran in their families, and they didn’t want to pass it on to their baby, they only had two options. Don’t have a baby at all to ensure that there is no way of the genetic disease being passed on, or adopting a kid. However, thanks to genetic engineering, it is now possible for parents to prevent their future kids from having any of these diseases at all. This method has now been termed genetic perfection, since the parents can actually go into their child's genes and start manipulating which traits their kids can or cannot express. It is this very trait of genetic modification that has become a concern for some scientists and politicians since this technology is still new and many believe that there will be many dangerous consequences that may arise from the use of these methods. This has led to many debates and discussions about whether parents should have the ability to decide exactly what their kids will be like. Some believe that ethical complications may arise, such as should parents have the ability to decide what their kids look like, or how will health insurance work now that insures know exactly how much health risk a patient has. However, the opposition believes that there's nothing wrong with making sure a kid does not have to suffer from a disease that could’ve been prevented. Overall, genetic modification and perfection has become a very gray area since there are both a lot of positives