The parents of the great majority of children born with genetic conditions had no known risk factors. Limited options . Usually, the only choice offered by prenatal testing is whether or not to abort. For most genetic diseases and disabilities that can be diagnosed prenatally, neither therapy nor cure is available. At the same time, the knowledge that a child will have a genetic disease can be very important to parents who decide to go ahead with the birth.
Help is available .
If you are considering genetic testing, a genetic counselor can help you navigate all the new information and make your own choices about when to test and how to respond to the results. You may want to start with a visit to the National Society of Genetic Counselors' Website .