Pregnant Women s Views About the Ethics of Prenatal Whole Genome Sequencing

The impending implementation of prenatal whole genome sequencing (PWGS) raises a host of ethical concerns given the massive amounts of genetic information that expecting parents will be able to learn about their baby. This project involves a cross-sectional quantitative survey of pregnant women to explore whether they want access to the kinds of information provided by PWGS, why and under what circumstances. The survey will address questions such as: What sorts of information do pregnant women want to know about their baby, and why? What, if anything, would they do with the information? What kind of guidance would pregnant women like from their medical team regarding fetal genetic testing? Given the range of practical and ethical challenges posed by PWGS, our data will inform practitioners approaches towards PWGS as the technology develops and becomes more widely available. It is imperative that government regulators and professional societies take into account the views of people directly affected by any policies that are created - including patients themselves - before crafting rules for whether, when and how to utilize PWGS.