Striking a Balance in Reproductive Genetic Counseling: Directiveness for Testing, Non-Directiveness About Selection

In this paper, I defend two claims about best practices for genetic counselors advising patients in the reproductive context. The first claim is that defenders of non-directiveness about selection against disability traits should support directiveness in favor of testing for disability traits. The second claim is that genetic counselors can be non-directive about selection against disability traits yet directive about testing for those traits-there is no tension between these two positions. So, it is open to defenders of non-directiveness about selection to be in favor of directiveness about testing, and in fact they should shift to the nuanced position I show is available to them, rather than adopting a monolithic approach advocating non-directiveness with respect to both testing and selection.