Genetic screening for reproductive purposes at school: is it a good strategy?

Thalassemia and Tay-Sachs disease were the first diseases in which the criteria for heterozygote genetic screening were met and successful programs for reproductive purposes were initiated in populations at risk. However, many of the couples first discover the possibility of genetic screening during pregnancy and efforts are made to bring couples to consider screening tests before the first pregnancy. In this context, high school offers a convenient setting and several pilot programs have been very successful. All evaluations of these programs found that education plays a critical role in allowing informed decisions and minimizing the possible harms. While it has been suggested that high school may be the best setting for reproductive screening programs, guidelines of several societies of human genetics recommend the use of carrier screening only in individuals older than 18 years. There are several other problems related to genetic screening programs at school and some are discussed in the review. Our opinion is that school should be a place to provide the tools for decisions by education only; while the option to have the genetic tests later in life or in another setting should be offered to the students as part of the education session. This may allow the students to decide when and where to have a genetic test.