ABSTRACT
Those who have ever provided genetic counseling for an anxious married couple must have faced their distress and felt very defenceless. The very uncertainty shadowing the health of their desired offspring puts a considerable burden on the expectant mother and her spouse. Add to that the further risk of various other special circumstances and the result can be an effectively unbearable load. Those couples seeking genetic counseling almost always carry the ‘extra burden’, that being the very reason why their physician sends them to consult a specialist. Obviously, the diversity of human society is reflected in the varied nature of questions people want genetic counselors to answer. They include a variety: from simpler cases to serious, and high-risk problems with unfavorable prognoses. In the past decades society’s expectations from medicine have been considerably extended. The recent progress in genetic research has made people believe that now every hereditary disease can be screened in time and prevented; that is, that the birth of a sick baby can be avoided with absolute certainty. The requirement of living up to this expectation more comprehensively has led to establishing and launching genetic counseling centers that have become an integral part of the maternity care system.
