Antenatal genetic testing and the right to remain in ignorance

As knowledge increases about the human genome, prenatal genetic testing wil l become cheaper, safer and more comprehensive. It is likely that there wil l be a great deal of support for making prenatal testing for a wide range o f genetic disorders a routine part of antenatal care. Such routine testing is necessarily coercive in nature and does not involve the same standard of consent as is required in other health care settings. This paper asks whet her this level of coercion is ethically justifiable in this case, or whethe r pregnant women have a right to remain in ignorance of the genetic make-up of the fetus they are carrying. While information gained by genetic testin g may be useful for pregnant women when making decisions about their pregna ncy, it does not prevent harm to future children. It is argued that as this kind of testing provides information in the interests of the pregnant wome n and not in the interests of any future child, the same standards of conse nt that are normally required for genetic testing should be required in thi s instance.