Genomic testing in prenatal care is rapidly advancing and it is now possible to obtain an entire fetal genome via a blood test administered in early pregnancy. In the pursuit of reproductive autonomy, more tests are being offered to more people, for an ever-increasing range of indications. Health professionals who provide pregnancy care are at the vanguard of prenatal testing, yet their views on the impact of technology advancements remain under-explored. Qualitative interviews with Australian healthcare professionals revealed that they value (...) prenatal testing for its information-giving potential. However, the rationale underpinning testing reveals a tension between professionals’ desire for certainty and patients’ expectation that they will be reassured. Coupled with the greater salience of genomic information over other forms of knowledge in prenatal care, we suggest that the unchecked pursuit of information by way of genomic technologies in prenatal testing may paradoxically constrain reproductive autonomy in practice. (shrink)

How do white nationalists use genetic ancestry tests? This article provides a qualitative analysis of posts from Stormfront, a white nationalist message board, to understand how white nationalists use genetic ancestry tests to advance ideological claims about the threat of genetic admixture. Starting in 2004, members of this message board began discussing the promises and pitfalls of using genetic ancestry tests to prove their whiteness. Using Goffman’s framework of stigma and impression management, we explore how they manage undesirable test results (...) and genetic stigma amongst themselves – when they take genetic tests and discover they are partially non-white. Finally, this article looks at how they simultaneously deploy exclusionary or inclusionary strategies that challenge past concepts of whiteness built on the one-drop rule. Pragmatic concerns often drive their strategic positioning when confronted with undesirable test results, as they are aware that too strict exclusionary policies may impede the group’s demographical survival. (shrink)

This study investigates prospective fathers’ reaction to epigenetics and its implications for heredity. Mounting scientific evidence that epigenetic changes transmit through fathers, not just mothers, makes it important to learn how men regard their inheritance conceptually and its relevance for their behavior. This study features in-depth interviews with 31 prospective fathers in Canada. About one-third of respondents had heard of epigenetics, but only one had substantial knowledge. After a non-technical explanation, virtually all found epigenetics plausible, though to varying degrees and (...) with varying mental models of how epigenetic inheritance would work. Nearly all expressed a strong desire to follow whatever behaviors would improve the health of their future children, even lifestyle changes, thus re-aligning responsible fatherhood with new scientific findings. This demonstrates the new concept of genetic subjectivity: socially conditioned attitudes and normative agency based on genetic science. Implications for the ontology of gendered inheritance and social relations are discussed. (shrink)

This study examines how the institutional context informs the ways in which healthy recipients relate to genomic information. Through focus group data, it considers the trend of blood collection agencies (BCA) moving to extend donor genotyping. We investigated how receipt of genomic information is viewed as fitting into the contract of altruistic, voluntary blood donation by donors and non-donors. Our findings suggest that receipt of genomic health information is viewed as fitting the principles of this exchange with some limits. Participants (...) considered the practical value of receiving different kinds of genetic information for individual and collective health from the perspectives of a healthy, altruistic donor, an “entrepreneurial self” and a potential patient. Findings identify the importance of considering the ethics of providing information on genomic markers to blood donors without current clinical value, as well as the impact of providing this information on the donor – BCA relationship. (shrink)