emotional consequences of early testing for genetic disorders

[jrtom]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/health/18huntington.html?ex=1331870400&en=7ce9d3291eab0b28&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Personally, I think I'd rather know.

But it's a hard thing to know.

Comments

I'd want to know.

[fdmts.livejournal.com]

I fall all the way back to one of my core axioms on this one: More accurate information always leads to better decision making, in the long run.

But yeah, that's a hard thing to know.

Re: I'd want to know.

[fdmts.livejournal.com]

Stupid hair trigger "submit" button. An additional thought:

I've got a pair of friends who "screen" positive for Downs syndrome on their current pregnancy, based purely on family history and age. They're deciding whether to get the genetic test. Hard stuff.

Re: I'd want to know.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's an even harder one, because you're in a position of having to make decisions for someone else that can't possibly make them for their own.

(Yes, you do this every time you decide to adopt a pet, or have/adopt an infant. But it feels different, somehow.)

Re: I'd want to know.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

I think that there may be people that might be better off not knowing. (If you're pretty sure that they'd commit suicide if they knew, for example.)

For a darker example, let's suppose that [INSERT DEITY HERE] handed you a note in an envelope labeled "date of your death".

Would you open it?

Re: I'd want to know.

[fdmts.livejournal.com]

For a darker example, let's suppose that [INSERT DEITY HERE] handed you a note in an envelope labeled "date of your death".

Yep. I'd open it in a heartbeat.

Then again, I've recently had occasion to learn that I'm not the sort who crumbles when confronted with death.

Re: I'd want to know.

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough:

I think I might well be happier if I didn't open it.

There is no force on earth that could keep me from opening it.

If only because billions of people don't know what the date of their death will be, and I would be the only one, and I have an absolute belief in the value of the unique. I'd like to see what difference it would make.

Re: I'd want to know.

[nordic-thora.livejournal.com]

Would you open it?

No, I would not. Sure, I'd be tempted, but I'm quite sure I wouldn't.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I'd want to know too. For example, I know I want children. I still would, but I'd adopt rather than having my own. I'd also stop worrying about retirement funds - let the state pay for me!