Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis - For 'Disabilities?'

The New York Times just ran an article (Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects) that completely blows me away. The topic is preimplantation genetic diagnosis, but rather than the usual 'building the perfect baby' angle the article discusses parents with 'disabilities' who want to leverage the technology to introduce the same conditions into their unborn childern.

Huh?

From the article:
Wanting to have children who follow in one’s footsteps is an understandable desire. But a coming article in the journal Fertility and Sterility offers a fascinating glimpse into how far some parents may go to ensure that their children stay in their world — by intentionally choosing malfunctioning genes that produce disabilities like deafness or dwarfism.

I guess I'd never thought about it applying in that direction. I'd always assumed that a parent with dwafism or deafness wouldn't want their child to experience and grow up with the same condition. I'm curious whether the desire for the child to share the condition is due to an honest belief that their lives were enriched by the condition, or a concern that they wouldn't be able to raise or deal with a child who lacked their 'disability.'

Interesting stuff...

Be Careful What You Hear

Or more specifically... be careful what you choose to believe. The press is getting broader and broader in terms of the topics that they choose to cover on a regular basis. Unfortunately they sometimes seem to be getting more and more liberal in their interpretation of these topics and the takeaways for those of us reading.

Genetics & Health briefly discusses the topic and suggests that while it remains a good idea to communicate risk to people outside of the medical genetics community, that communication should come with added education so that those individuals understand how to use it.

Is genetic testing worthwhile based on report X or would it provide very little likely benefit to you as an individual relative to the risk given your personal circumstances? The average person reading a paper or magazine is highly likely to draw the correct conclusion particularly when all-too-often the message is veiled in a sensationalist wrapping.