Genetic Counselling Practice and Principles

This volume examines the social and ethical issues raised in genetic counselling, testing and screening. It includes contributions from health professionals engaged in genetic counselling as well as observers and critics from the fields of philosophy, law, biology and social science. The book therefore examines both the immediate questions raised by individual clients and the broader social implications of genetic counselling. The essays explore issues such as when genetic tests should be used to predict future health, when children should be tested for genetic disorders and how we should guard against possible abuses of genetic knowledge.
Contributors: David Ball, Caroline Berry, Paula Boddington, Don Bradley, Matthew Griffiths, Peter Harper, Helen Hughes, Abby Lippman, Jonathan Montgomery, Benno Muller-Hill, Evelyn Parsons, Maureen Ramsey, Lydia Sinclair, Audrey Tyler, Margaretha White-Van-Mourik, Ann Williams.

Contributions to this study are drawn both from health professionals engaged in genetic counselling and from observers and critics with backgrounds in law, philosophy, biology, and the social sciences. This diversity will enable health professonals to examine their activities with a fresh eye, and will help the observer-critic to understand the ethical problems that arise in genetic counselling practice, rather than in imaginary encounters. Most examinations of the ethical issues raised by genetics are concerned in a broad sense with the application of new technology to human reproduction. This volume focuses on genetic counselling and screening as such, providing valuable insights for the health professional, social scientist, philosopher, lawyer, and bioethicist.

Introduction 1. Genetic Counselling: A Medical Perspective Caroline Berry 2. Genetic Counselling: A Nurse's Perspective Ann Williams 3. Predictive Testing of Adults and Children David Ball, Audrey Taylor, Peter Harper 4. Ethical Issues in Newborn Screening for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: The Question of Informed Consent Evelyn Parsons^ and Don Bradley 5. Termination of a Second Trimester Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality: Psycho-Social Aspects Margaretha White-van Mourik 6. Lessons from a Dark and Distant Past Benno Muller-Hill 7. Prenatal Genetic Testing and Screening: Constructing Needs and Reinforcing Inequities Abby Lippman 8. Medical Genetics and Mental Handicap Lydia Sinclair and Matthew Griffiths 9. The Rights and Interests of Children and Those with a Mental Handicap Jonathan Montgomery 10. Confidentiality in Genetic Counselling Paula Boddington 11. Genetic Reductionism and Medical Genetic Practice Maureen Ramsay

Angus Clarke