Reproductive plans of genetic counseling clients not eligible for prenatal diagnosis

✍ Scribed by Sorenson, James R. ;Scotch, Norman A. ;Swazey, Judith P. ;Wertz, Dorothy C. ;Heeren, Timothy C. ;Opitz, John M. ;Reynolds, James F.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 552 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-7299
• DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.1320280212

✦ Synopsis

A prospective study of the reproductive plans of 185 genetic counseling clients a t risk for birth defects not diagnosable prenatally found, 6 months after counseling, 1) a small increase in the number of pregnancies initiated and planned, compared to pregnancies planned before counseling; 2) an increase in initiated and planned pregnancies among clients at both high as well as low risk; and 3) reproductive plans after counseling more closely correlated with clients' perceptions of the social, familial, and economic burdens of an affected child than with medically defined risk and specific clinical characteristics of the birth defects. In discussing the burden of a birth defect with clients, counselors are encouraged to discuss not only the medical burden, but the social, familial, and financial burdens as well.