Questions Genetic Counselors Ask

Abstract

When individuals come in for counseling they seldom know fully what is available from genetic counseling or which questions are appropriate to a genetic counseling session. Nevertheless, by asking individuals what they want and expect from genetic counseling, the counselor obtains a starting point from which the issues can be clarified. It is important to remember that many people, as they learn more about the disorder and the options available to them, change what they want and expect from genetic counseling. For example, one mother of a short-statured child expressed how her perception was changing: “I mean he’s seemed so healthy and normal, and then to be sitting there and talking like he’s dying and like he’s really ill. How come he doesn’t act it?”

Men naturally desire health and happiness. For some of them, however, perhaps for all, these words have implications that transcend ordinary biological concepts. The kind of health that men desire most is not necessarily a state in which they experience physical vigor and a sense of well-being, not even one giving them a long life. It is, instead, the condition best suited to reach goals that each individual formulates for himself. R. Dubos, 1959