What is Genetic Counseling?

Genetic counseling helps you understand how genes, birth defects and other medical conditions run in families, and a way for people to understand how genetic illnesses can affect them and their family.

Genetic counseling can increase a couple’s chance of having a healthy baby. Some forms of infertility, particularly male infertility, have a genetic basis. Couples with these forms of infertility may be at increased risk for transmitting infertility to their children, having a miscarriage or having a child with a serious genetic condition.

Other patients may be at increased risk for having a baby with a genetic condition based on their family history, ethnic background or age. Examples of some common conditions that might be discussed during genetic counseling include Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia and Tay-Sachs disease

Here are the five best things about genetic counseling and how it can help you make informed decisions about your health.

1. Understand your risk of developing a genetic condition:
2. Access to specialized genetic testing:
3. Empowerment to make informed decisions:
4. Emotional support and guidance:
5. Personalised approach to healthcare:

Good Candidates for Genetic Counseling

All patients are offered carrier screening for common genetic diseases. However, patients with the following histories may consider further genetic counseling.

• History of multiple miscarriages
• Family history of genetic diseases
• Patient or partner is a carrier for a genetic disease
• Advanced maternal age (>35) or advanced paternal age (>40)

The Role of Genetic Counseling

Genetic counseling serves two functions — to help identify if a genetic condition is at the root of your infertility, and to increase your chances of successful implantation through IVF. What causes infertility and persistent miscarriages varies depending on the couple

While in many cases it’s a result of hormonal or anatomical factors, some couples do experience difficulty conceiving for genetic reasons. For both men and women, this can be in the form of a chromosome translocation, an abnormality in which chromosomes swap material.

While in many cases it’s a result of hormonal or anatomical factors, some couples do experience difficulty conceiving for genetic reasons. For both men and women, this can be in the form of a chromosome translocation, an abnormality in which chromosomes swap material.

Chromosomal abnormalities are also a primary cause of failed IVF attempts. This has led many couples to undergo preimplantation genetic testing. Preimplantation genetic testing can determine which embryos carry genetic abnormalities, thereby giving couples the option to remove those embryos from the sample and increase their chances of successful implantation. Men and women who have a history of life-altering genetic disorders, including muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, and breast and ovarian cancer, may also choose to use preimplantation genetic testing to select embryos with a lower risk.