Preventive assistance
If tests have shown that you are a carrier of a genetic defect, the team at the Centre for Medical Genetics (CMG) will encourage you to inform and encourage other family members to have themselves tested. Of course the CMG cannot oblige anyone to do so but it tries in any case to raise awareness among patients of this.
One reason for this is that for some conditions there is now the possibility of preventing transmission to a following generation. Another is that in certain situations ‘knowing’ can be of vital importance. For example in the case of inherited breast cancer. If female relatives have themselves tested and so become aware of the fact that they are carriers of the cancer gene, that can lead to better prevention.