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The value of genetic testing for family health history of adopted persons

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The lack of family health history experienced by most adopted persons can represent a marked disadvantage for these individuals. Genetic testing has the potential to reliably and usefully fill informational gaps, but considerable challenges need to be addressed to assemble an economic case for affordability.

Lack of family health history experienced by most adopted persons can represent a marked disadvantage. This Comment discusses the role of genetic testing in filling this informational gap and the challenges that need to be overcome.

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References

  1. May, T. et al. Does lack of ‘genetic relative family health history’ represent a potentially avoidable health disparity for adoptees? Am. J. Bioeth. 16, 33–38 (2016).

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks K. A. Strong, J. P. Evans, H. Grotevant, R. M. Lee and K. L. Zusevics for supporting the Genomic Family History for Adopted Persons project since its very early days, and continuing to the present. Their influence is reflected in the core ideas articulated here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA

    Thomas May

  2. Ethics and Genomics Program, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL, USA

    Thomas May

  3. Institute for Aging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Thomas May

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  1. Thomas May
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Correspondence to Thomas May.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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May, T. The value of genetic testing for family health history of adopted persons. Nat Rev Genet 20, 65–66 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-018-0080-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-018-0080-4

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