According to US News and World Report, a recent study done by researchers from the University of Michigan reports that parents do not overreact to genetic test results for their children, and in fact, treat the data similar to family history.
What do these findings suggest? Predictive genetic testing for children may not result in the kind of psychological or medical harm that many bioethicists have feared if parents just treat it as one more piece of data like Aunt Laverne’s breast cancer. In fact, many parents, the study said, feared family history more than genetic test results in regard to what the future holds for their children.
Some data that contradicts the conventional wisdom for sure–but certainly food for thought as well. Certainly not a good reason to recommend genetic tests for children lightly, but also maybe a reason to fear them less than we once did for those under 18.
Summer Johnson, PhD