Religious Guidance and Care Regarding Genomic Testing

"Religious Guidance and Care Regarding Genomic Testing"

Genetic testing the the U.S. is rapidly expanding. Factors leading to this expansion include an increase in older women desiring pregnancy, expansion of prenatal testing to younger women, expanded state mandated newborn screening, and the availability of genome-wide scans via a direct to consumer genetic testing model. While genetic counseling is provided in many of these situations, the decision to test and reactions to the test results may raise ethical and religious issues that genetic counselors may not be fully prepared to address. Clergy and leaders of religious communities may be increasingly called on to provide support and counsel to members facing difficult ethical, psychological, and spiritual issues related to genomic testing.

This research aims to measure the current level of knowledge that clergy possess regarding genetic and reproductive technologies and determine the frequency with which clergy report providing care, counsel, and guidance regarding these issues.

Main researchers: Andrew Faucett, School of Medicine; Karen Scheib, Candler School of Theology; Zhou Yang, Rollins School of Public Health; Kathy Kinlaw, Center for Ethics