Can Genomics Remove Uncertainty from Adoption? Social Workers' and Medical Advisors' Accounts of Genetic Testing
Researchers interviewed 20 social workers, managers, medical advisers and paediatricians from adoption services in England and Wales about genetic testing. Medical professionals described pressure to test children before adoption, while social workers often saw testing as reducing uncertainty. The analysis described how newer genomic tests can also create uncertain results that professionals must interpret, with possible consequences for children’s adoption prospects.
Limitations: Professionals supplied the evidence; adoptees did not. This is a small qualitative sample and does not measure how often the reported practices occur. It is a distinct paper from the earlier professionals’ genetic-testing publication, but arose from related research and may share participants.
- Research type
- Qualitative study
- Source reviewed
- Abstract
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Mixed
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: mixed
Adoption context: Adoption from public care
Programme: Genetic testing in adoption: Cardiff professional interview study
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified from metadata reviewed. Funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited; this is not confirmation of institutional independence.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: adoption system, England and Wales, genetic testing, genomics, medical history, professional perspectives
Review scope: Source checked: Abstract. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: England and Wales
- Funding
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Funder role
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Declared conflicts
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not yet checked for this entry
Entry: study_e8d26be9c8a16b04