Well, that “complete study” is incomplete, as we still don’t know the whole extent of the genetic map: we have the pretty colored lines on a piece of paper, but we don’t know what every line means.
I already know that I didn’t inherit Mom’s bad health but Middlebro did. I also know that I’m unlikely to have the cancer streak that runs through Dad’s side (it only affects males, which I’m not, with certain physical characteristics I don’t have, my relatives who have had cancer look quite different from those who haven’t).
I’m not particularly interested, no. As in “wouldn’t get it if it was free either” uninterested.
OTOH, SiL-the-doctor was unable to consider the notion of having a child until she was able to get tested for a genetic disease that a second-cousin of her Mom’s has (got back a clean bill of genetic health). So she evidently was interested. Funny thing is, The Nephew was born with a minor defect in one urether, which my great-grandmother also had and which led to one of her kidneys being useless (this is the great-grandmother who died at 96 and whose son and daughter are now 94 and 92, respectively); The Nephew’s problem was corrected through surgery and it’s not expected to affect his health at all.
I would certainly be tempted for a few reasons. One, my mother’s hometown is, for lack of a better term, a bit inbred. Two, I’d like to know if I’m a carrier for colorblindness–my husband is colorblind, and I know my mother has to be a carrier (my grandfather was colorblind). Three, I don’t have much knowledge of what my father’s side has at all, as I don’t know who my biological grandfather is. (On the upside, I don’t know of anyone in the family with Alzheimer’s)
If I could have guaranteed confidentiality and I had the money for it, I’d go ahead and get a test. My family is rife with health problems - breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure to name a few - and my health has always been rather cut-rate. The more I know now, the more I can do, even if that means just getting my affairs in order and refusing to have children if the opportunity presents itself.
There’s no way in hell that I want an insurance company be able to get their hands on my information. Insurance is hard enough to find.
No thanks. I have plenty of things that I stress about on a daily basis. I really can’t imagine why anybody would want one done.
We all know that we are going to die, what is the point of knowing if you are going to die of a stroke or heart attack or whatever.