- Weather | Horoscope | Stocks
expressindia web
HomeBlogsCricketAstrologyShoppingHotelsTendersClassifieds OpinionsTravel
| Make this your homepage | Archive
Expressindia » Story

In search of the ‘perfect’ child, couples go for genetic counselling

Font Size -

PALLAVI SINGH

Posted online: Thursday , January 10, 2008 at 12:00:00
Updated: Thursday , January 10, 2008 at 12:47:18


New Delhi, January 9 Wary of a child with a clubfoot or facial and oral deformities? If counsellors for genetic diseases at leading city hospitals are to be believed, most prospective parents certainly are.

Dr Seema Thakur, a consultant in genetics at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, says: “Some couples are quite adamant. They prefer abortion even if there is a slight deviation from normal. There is an obsession, especially in India, with the ‘perfect child’.”

And this is where genetic counselling comes in. A relatively new medical process, it helps patients or relatives, at risk of an inherited disorder, discover consequences and nature of the disorder, and the probability of developing or transmitting it.

Doctors say “obsessed” with a perfect child, many undergoing counselling seek abortion of pregnancies that are at risk of even minor deformities.

Take, for instance, Sushma Gupta (name changed on request). An IT professional whose unborn child was diagnosed with a cleft palate, a deformity caused by abnormal facial development, she went for an abortion. “It was painful but it is better to keep the child out of the way before the child is ridiculed for no fault of his/her own,” she says.

Dr I C Verma, HoD, Genetic Studies, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, says while malformations like cleft lip or a cleft palate can very well be treated through surgery, many couples want nothing short of a perfect child. He says the rise in awareness level is the prime reason behind the rising numbers seeking genetic counselling. “Often, we get couples with queries like the effect of X-ray on the child in the womb,” Dr Verma says.

More abortions in early marriages
Dr Thakur pegs the number of her patients with abortion request for minor defects at 60 per cent. But she says much of those decisions vary from case to case: “If it’s, say, a delivery at an advanced age, or if the mother is a heart patient, they do not mind a child with a defect.”

But couples with an early marriage, or those who already have children, prefer a child with no trouble, she says. “For example, when genetic risks are high, the desire to have a healthy child and to avoid danger to oneself, family and society are frequently in conflict,” Dr Thakur says. “Although most counselling sessions end well, with zero or very little chances for abortion, people in the high-risk category are left with only the options of prenatal diagnosis and abortion.

“And, if required, artificial insemination and gene therapy.”

Dr Vimarsh Raina, senior consultant in molecular biology at Apollo Hospital, says Indian families are “too emotional” to go for abortion.

“The biggest challenge of genetic counselling is helping families cope with emotional, psychological and medical consequences of genetic diseases,” Raina says. “It is difficult to assess the efficacy of genetic counselling, for there is no end-result like cure.

“But it’s always a very hard decision to abort a child — such decisions in Indian families are taken collectively.”

‘Shortage of trained docs in genetic medicine’
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital carries out maximum number of tests for genetic diseases in the country, Dr I C Verma says. The number of “anxious” couples, he says, is about 5 per cent of the patients he treats. “Though a small number, it has to be seen in the context that there is a shortage of doctors trained in genetic medicine.”

The first genetic register began at the Department of Paediatics in AIIMS. But Ganga Ram Hospital, which treats about 3,000 patients a year and conducts 1,200 tests for genetic disorders, has a dedicated department to the cause.

Ads by Google
Post Comments
Name* Email ID*
Subject* Country*
Message*
Characters remaining
 
TERMS OF USE: The views represented here are not neccesarily endorsed by www.expressindia.com and its allied websites. All messages will be moderated and no message that has inflammatory, abusive, derogatory language or any language deemed unfit for publication by the editor will be displayed. Though it will be endeavoured that as many messages as possible be displayed, there will be time lag between the submission and publication of the messages. The website reserves the right to publish or reject any message.
I agree to the terms of use.
Sikh student's turban set afire in US Stop behaving like pets, BJP tells Cong leaders Madhuri bids adieu to films, for now Mulayam warms up to Cong, calls Maya ungrateful Controversial ‘godman’ taken into custody




Group Websites
Indian Express Financial Express Screen Loksatta Kashmir Live Biz Publications
Featured Services
© 2008 Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. All rights reserved
The Indian Express Group | Advertise With Us | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Work With Us | Site Map
Rate this Article
0
Average Rating

Bookmark this Page
  • What is this?
    Digg

    On Digg, users share intersting online content by submitting links to the site. At that point, the Digg audience can vote on whether or not they think it is interesting. Articles with lots of votes, or "diggs," rise up higher on the site's main page and topical subsection pages. Another form of social sharing, this site also lets users categorize the content they are submitting to Digg and label it with descriptions of up to 350 characters. Digg users can also submit comments on each content item submitted to the site.

    To register, go to: http://digg.com/register

    del.icio.us

    At its most basic level, del.icio.us allows users to save their bookmarks online. Del.icio.us also gives users the ability to "tag" their bookmarks with descriptive category names. For example, someone who has bookmarked multiple Web pages that deal with the Washington Nationals baseball team could tag those links with any terms they want, like "baseball," "nationals," "natsfan," etc.

    As members of a "social bookmarking" community, del.icio.us sers can also see how many other people have bookmarked the same pages, and they can look at those users' bookmark collections to find other interesting online content.

    To register, go to: http://del.icio.us/register

    Reddit

    Reddit allows users to submit news articles and other online content to the site. Users also give articles a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Reddit then uses those votes to build a user profile and to find articles to recommend to you. Users can also submit comments on items posted to the site.

    To register, go to: http://reddit.com/login