Attitudes Toward Genetic Counseling and Prenatal Diagnosis Among a Group of Individuals with Physical Disabilities

Chen, Elizabeth A.
Schiffman, Judith F.

¹University of California at Los Angeles, Division of Reproductive Genetics, Los Angeles, CA.
²Northwestern University Medical School, Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling, Chicago, IL

³Correspondence should be addressed to Elizabeth Chen,200 UCLA Medical Plaza, Suite 430, Los Angeles, CA 90095; (310) 794-7813.

Journal of Genetic Counseling 9(2):p 137-152, April 2000.

Few studies have been published on the attitudes of people with physical disabilities toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Articles in the lay press and social science literature on this topic, mainly written by disability rights activists and advocates, imply opposition to prenatal diagnosis and the field of clinical genetics by the physically disabled population. In this study, 15 adults with physical disabilities were interviewed regarding their attitudes toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis were generally viewed favorably by this sample of the disability community. Only a small percentage of the sample perceived genetics to be eugenic. Implications for genetic counseling and future research are discussed.