What is genetic counselling?
Genetic counselling gives you information about how genetic conditions might affect you or your family.
The genetic counsellor or other healthcare professional will collect your personal and family health history. By examining your family medical history and drawing up a family tree, they will assess the risk that the two parents have of passing on an inherited condition to their child. They will discuss the different genetic tests available and arrange them if appropriate.
Who might need it?
You may want genetic counselling if you have – or think you have – a genetic condition, or you have a child with a genetic condition, like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease, or a birth defect, like a heart defect or cleft lip or palate. These conditions may run in your family or ethnic group.