Understanding A Genetic Consultation

As a healthcare service, a genetic consultation is available for everyone who wishes

to gain support and information on whether he or she is at risk of developing genetic disorders. Genetics professionals converged with the individual and family to discuss genetic risks or to rule out, confirm or diagnose a genetic condition.

Besides the geneticists, the genetic counselors may be involved in a genetic consultation. Geneticists are medical doctors whose specialization is genetics, while the genetic counselors are certified healthcare professionals who have expertise in counseling and medical genetics.

There are also other healthcare professionals such as social workers, psychologists and nurses who can provide consultation on genetics, provided they had a previous training in genetics.

Generally, the consultation in genetics, which are in the form of in-person visits with the individual or families, can be done in places such as the hospital, genetics center, doctor's clinic and other types of medical center. It is a very rare case and highly exceptional to have the consultation done over a telephone or in groups.

If an individual is considering having a genetic testing, it can be supported with a genetic consultation. If for instance, there is no available genetic test for a particular condition, a consultation may prove very helpful.

Many reasons have prompted individuals, couples and family to seek consultation on genetics. These reasons may include having two or more pregnancy losses such as miscarriage, stillbirth or giving a birth to a child who later on died; having a family history of a genetic illness, chromosomal disease, birth defect or hereditary cancer; conceiving or giving birth to a child with a known inherited disease, mental retardation, developmental delay or birth defect; and planning on having a pregnancy after the age of 35 as there are chromosomal disorders occurring more often in children born from older women.

On some cases, a person's ethnic background can be a foundation for seeking a consultation in genetics especially if such ethnic backgrounds have been found to have higher vulnerability to genetic disorder which can also have risks of passing onto the offspring. Even a couple who have blood relations-like being cousins-and who plan on having a pregnancy must have a consultation or testing on genetics as the child borne of parents who are related by blood may be at higher risks for obtaining a particular genetic illness.

After the results on consultation are made known, the professionals handling such matters are not obliged to dictate the individuals on which decisions to make such as advising the couples not to pursue the plan on pregnancy, recommending a woman to end or continue her pregnancy, forcing her or him to seek genetic testing for a particular disorder as these are all in violation of standards of ethics.

The consultation is done by a voluntary decision of an individual with the purpose of shedding light on doubts about the risks of being a carrier of a genetic disorder. Any decision after the result should come freely from that individual.

by: Charles Godbout

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