Client reactions to genetic counseling: self-reports of influence

Abstract

Of 628 clients completing questionnaires six months after genetic counseling, 273 (43.5%) reported that their reproductive plans had been influenced by the counseling session. Of those who said that they were influenced, 144 (52.7%) held the same reproductive plans that they reported before counseling: 41 (15%) were planning more pregnancies, 36 (13.2%) were planning fewer, and 52 (19.1%) became reproductively uncertain. A similar pattern of stability and change appeared in the reproductive plans of those who reported that they were not influenced by genetic counseling. Stepwise logistic regression indicated that clients who reported that their plans were influenced: came to counseling to get information for making a decision about whether to have a child; discussed this decision in depth with the counselor; and had more education than clients who said that they were not influenced. We found no evidence that counseling was supplanting clients' own personal values. In the discussion, we suggest several reasons why clients of higher socio-economic status are more likely than others to report that they are influenced, and discuss the ethical implications of these results.