Genetic counseling mainly provides an individual with information on how genetic conditions might affect them or their family members (Migliore et al., 2019).The case scenario for this discussion involves a 30-year-old male client, P.T, with a family history of Huntington’s disease (HD). His wife discovered that she was pregnant. It was pointed out to then by the family physician the need to see a genetic counselor to consider genetic testing for their unborn baby and determine whether the child had inherited the mutation and is likely to be stricken with HD in adulthood. HD is an inherited disease that causes progressive neural degeneration. HD patients normally experience behavioral and mental changes including dementia, and paranoia in addition to physical symptoms like slurred speech, difficulty walking, and jerky movements. Studies show that individuals who come from families with a genetic history of HD have a 50% of developing the disease at some point in their life (Karadag et al., 2021). However, genetic tests for HD are available for an appropriate course of action based on the results. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the need and benefits of genetic counseling for P.T and his wife.
Genetic testing for HD involves much more than just collecting blood test results. Many issues are normally at stake such as social, emotional, and financial issues which does not only involve the individual seeking testing, but also their immediate family members, and even extended family at large. Before initiating the process of genetic testing, the client deserves a chance to evaluate these issues keenly which is a genetic counselor (Oosterloo et al., 2020). The case of P.T and his wife is even more complex given that proceeding to carry out a genetic test on their unborn child raises several ethical concerns. For instance, they will be depriving the child of free will, as they have no idea whether the child wants to know if he or she is going to have HD later in life. On the other hand, knowing whether you carry the genetic mutation for HD earlier in life helps consider health promotion practices that will help prolong the life of the individual upon onset of the disease in addition to having a better prognosis. The genetic counselor will thus discuss such issues father with the client and his wife to promote sound decision-making concerning genetic testing for their unborn child.
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Most clients normally ignore the relevance of genetic counseling before considering to proceed with genetic testing. For instance, P.T and his wife feel like this is the best decision for their unborn baby, and even confirm that they will continue with the pregnancy despite the results. As such, they will most probably be reluctant to consider seeing a genetic counselor, and will even respond negatively to the counselor, ignoring most of the counselor’s concerns. However, to avoid such reactions, the counselor needs to inform them why genetic counseling is actually important in their case, and how they can benefit from the counseling (Migliore et al., 2019). The counselor needs to communicate confidently to build trust with the client and make them yearn for more knowledge about genetic testing. The counselor should also be non-judgmental ad non-directive.
In providing genetic counseling to P.T and his wife, I will inform them on several aspects of the disease and the need for testing as follows:
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