Genetic Questions to Ask
Questions about genetics and family history: what your relatives actually know, what ancestry tests turned up, the medical history worth writing down, and the decisions testing puts in front of people.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What do you actually know about your grandparents' health?
Why ask it
Most people discover the gaps only when a doctor asks. Separating what is known from what is assumed is the useful part of the answer.
Which trait in your family shows up in every generation?
Why ask it
Concrete and easy to answer, and it usually starts an argument about which side of the family it came from.
Has anyone in your family taken an ancestry test, and did the result match the story?
Why ask it
Results often contradict a family account of where everyone came from. What people do with the mismatch is more interesting than the percentages.
What would you want written down about your family's medical history before it is lost?
Why ask it
Turns curiosity into something practical. Ages at diagnosis and causes of death are what a doctor can use; anecdotes are not.
Which relative would you ask if you needed the family history straight?
Why ask it
Every family has one keeper of records. Identifying that person is often the single most useful outcome of the conversation.
Did a test result ever change how your family talked about itself?
Why ask it
One result can rearrange who counts as related. Ask about the aftermath rather than the discovery.
Would you want to know about a risk you could not do anything about?
Why ask it
This is the real question behind most testing decisions, and reasonable people answer it differently. Neither answer is denial or bravery.
Where do you think the line is between a trait you inherited and a habit you learned?
Why ask it
Temper, appetite and worry all get called inherited. Asking where the line sits usually gets someone to reconsider a story they have told for years.
What have you been told runs in the family that you suspect does not?
Why ask it
Family lore hardens into fact without evidence. The suspicion someone names often concerns a diagnosis nobody wrote down.
If you were having children, how much would you want tested beforehand?
Why ask it
A hypothetical for some and a live decision for others. Ask gently, and let them set the level of detail.
Who else has a claim on your genetic information: siblings, children, cousins?
Why ask it
Genetic results are shared property in a way medical records are not. Most people have not considered who they would feel obliged to tell.
What happens to your data after you post the tube back?
Why ask it
Companies differ on storage, sharing and consent. What someone assumes they agreed to is often not what they agreed to.
How would you feel about a relative you did not know appearing in a database?
Why ask it
Databases have surfaced unknown siblings and parents. Whether that is welcome depends on the person, not on the accuracy of the match.
Which family resemblance do people always point out about you?
Why ask it
A lighter question after several heavy ones, and it usually produces the story of who said it first.
What did you inherit that you are glad about, and what would you return?
Why ask it
The second half stops this being a compliment exchange. What people would return is often a health risk rather than a feature.
Should insurers or employers ever see genetic results?
Why ask it
A policy question with an immediate personal edge. Ask whether the answer changes if the result is their own.
Where should the line be on editing genes in humans?
Why ask it
Keep this on the line rather than on whether it is good or bad. The distinction people draw, usually between treating disease and choosing traits, is where the reasoning shows.
What does 'a gene for' something actually mean, as far as you understand it?
Why ask it
Reveals what someone thinks heredity guarantees. Vague answers are normal: the phrase is inherited from headlines rather than from biology.
What have you decided not to look into, and why?
Why ask it
Deliberate not-knowing is a legitimate position and rarely discussed. The reason given is the answer worth hearing.
What do you want the next generation to know before they are left guessing?
Why ask it
Ends on what to pass on rather than what to find out. Answers tend to be practical: write it down, keep the letter, tell the cousins.
Handling family and genetic information carefully
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you ask
- Family medical history is health information about people who are not in the room. Ask a relative what they are comfortable sharing before you write anything down.
- If someone in the family has a diagnosis, keep away from prognosis and treatment unless they raise it themselves.
- The set has two halves. Questions about your own family suit a quiet visit; the ones about testing, data and policy work in ordinary conversation.
Recording it properly
- Useful history is specific: which relative, which condition, roughly what age it appeared, and cause of death where it is known.
- Note adoption, half-siblings and step-relations plainly. A family tree that blurs them is misleading to a clinician.
- Keep a copy somewhere your siblings and children can find it. Most of this information is lost within one generation.
Where to be careful
- Do not interpret results for anyone. A risk figure without a genetic counselor's context misleads in both directions.
- Do not push a relative toward testing, and do not treat a decision against it as avoidance.
- Avoid speculating about parentage or ancestry from appearance or a percentage. That conversation does damage which is hard to undo.