Genetic Counselors

Genetic counselors provide you with education and advocacy. We’ll discuss your history, diagnostic procedures and how to get support when you need it.

The Prenatal Genetics Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine is the largest of its kind in the country. Our board-certified medical geneticists and counselors offer families like yours the advanced fetal diagnostic and clinical resources.

We make sure you receive the best possible care

• Evaluation of your family history
  Our genetic counselors will discuss the health of your pregnancy and make recommendations based on your family’s history.

• Advice about non-invasive and minimally invasive tests
  When you need help understanding the purpose, risks, benefits and limits of diagnostic procedures, our genetic counselors will talk with you about what to expect.

• Compassionate family counseling
  It can be difficult to navigate the emotional challenges that surround the diagnosis of a fetal condition. Our genetic counselors are here to provide you with support when you need it.

• Patient advocacy for fetal procedures
  When a fetal treatment is a possibility, our genetic counselors act as your advocate to help you understand the situation and to make sure you and your unborn baby receive the best possible care.

We’ll offer you support after you have your baby

• Post-delivery family care
  We understand that the challenges of a pregnancy complicated by a genetic condition or abnormality don’t always end at delivery. That’s why our genetic counselors can remain part of your family’s treatment team even after your baby is born.
   
• ​Pre-conception support
  If you decide to have another baby, pre-conception support is also available through our genetics clinic.

• Local and national support groups
  Our genetic counselors can also help you connect with local and national support groups and provide contact information of other families who have had similar experiences.

Common fetal diagnostic procedures include:

• Ultrasound
  Ultrasound readings can help provide important information about the health of the fetus and conditions in the uterus.

• Amniocentesis
  Specialists test a small sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds and protects the fetus within the uterus for evidence of abnormalities and genetic disorders.

• Placental biopsy
  Specialists in chorionic villus sampling, also known as CVS or placental biopsy, take a tiny tissue sample from outside the sac in which the fetus develops. They test the sample for evidence of genetic conditions.

• Fetal echocardiogram
  A fetal echocardiogram allows us to view the heart of the fetus in real time so we can evaluate the heart for the presence of congenital heart defects.