“Tracing My Family History of Cancer” by Katie Rich

I sat across from my genetic counselor as she filled out the strangest family history chart I’d ever seen. I rocked my newborn baby girl and answered the counselor’s questions about the name, birth year, death year, known illnesses, and cause of death for ancestors four generations back. She drew squares for males and circles for females and shaded sections in various patterns. All of this was to determine if I was eligible, based on the requirements set by my health insurance company, to be tested for genetic markers that would indicate whether I had an elevated risk of certain […]