Ethical problems in prenatal diagnosis: a cross-cultural survey of medical geneticists in 18 nations.

In order to provide a basis for international discussion of ethics among geneticists, we surveyed the responses of medical geneticists to a questionnaire describing 14 hypothetical cases that posed ethical dilemmas. The cases were selected through discussions with leading geneticists in 12 nations, as representative of the most difficult problems of moral choice experienced in practice. Six cases involved indications for prenatal diagnosis or disclosure of information. All medical geneticists in each of 18 nations were included. Of 1053 asked to participate, 677 (64 per cent) responded. A large majority (83 per cent) would perform prenatal diagnosis for parents who oppose abortion but request the service. A smaller majority (63 per cent) would do so for maternal anxiety, and a minority (25 per cent) would perform for sex selection in the absence of X-linked disease. Most would disclose conflicting controversial, or ambiguous test results, and two-thirds would disclose colleagues' differences of opinion.