Prenatal Genetic Testing (PGT) is a method of genetic testing used to determine the chances of whether a foetus has a likely risk of attaining a genetic disorder (Schatz 1883) such as Trisomy 18: Edwards syndrome, Trisomy 21: Down Syndrome; caused by the abnormal change and/or mutation of their genes or chromosomes. Aneuploidy is a condition used to describe the abnormal number of chromosomes. Thus, the forms of aneuploidy include monosomy (the absence of a chromosome) and trisomy (the presence of an additional chromosome). Prenatal Genetic Testing is offered to pregnant women that are curious towards the health of their infant and are curious or suspect that there may be a chance of their infant developing a genetic disorder. However not …show more content…
Parents who decide to go forward with their baby who potentially has an increased risk of attaining a genetic disorder can endure limitations and possible ineligibility of the child’s future opportunities in all sorts of occupation, financial services, health care providers and insurances. Under the ‘Privacy Legislation Amendment Act 2006’, ‘...health professionals are bound by the common law obligation of confidentiality... that confidential information can only be used or disclosed with the consent of the party who communicated the information.’ Under no circumstances should the results of a test recipient be distributed to outside parties without the written consent of the test recipient. Results should be released only to those individuals for whom the test recipient has given consent for information release. Likewise, parents are relying on medical practitioners/obstetricians to implement professional conduct, as the life and future opportunities of their potential child is at stake. Furthermore, medical practitioners/obstetricians offering PGT should be proficient in communicating genetic information and test results to patients in a comprehensible manner, this is to ensure that the medical practitioner/obstetrician possesses professional standards and are not carelessly disclosing confidential genetic information due to lacking professional wisdom. Undoubtedly, all medical practitioners/obstetricians must possess professional conduct with patients who sought PGT, as breach of disclosure, confidentiality and privacy can lead to the damage of welfare and future opportunities of potential