Brisbane A new service is now being offered by the Royal Children's Hospital, Outpatients Department. It is a consultative service for EB patients and their families. Genetic Counselling is a medical discipline that offers families accurate information about genetic risks to their unborn babies and future children.
Every couple faces some risk of having a child with a birth defect.
For some couples the risk may be greater because of their age, their genes, family history or certain other factors. Counsellors can never guarantee the birth of a normal child, they can only provide an estimate of the risks and determine how test might help. The decision to have a child is always left to the parents and therefore both parents should be present for counselling. Others are at risk because of their age, or the population group to which they belong, or because they have married a relative. The Genetic counselling interview begins with a thorough investigation of the family history and construction of a family tree.