This paper examines some proposals concerning the involvement of genetic co
unsellors in reproductive decisionmaking. This involvement represents the f
uture situation as being shaped decisively by the "relevant" knowledge of p
owerful medical and other political interests. The paper deconstructs and r
eorders this proposed knowledge in order to make it problematic. The projec
ted involvement of genetic counselling backed by claims of ethical expertis
e is rendered denaturalised and particular, opening a conceptual space for
the emergence of other futures. An alternative future in which public commu
nication, not private medical decisions, is given as the primary ethical fo
cus. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.