How could some presymptomatic testing be considered toxic for the individual testing, especially testing at an early age?
Nevertheless, many parents seek genetic testing of their children, especially for situations in which a genetic disease is known to be present in the family. They may have different reasons for wanting their children tested. These requests create a dilemma for pediatricians. The dilemmas arise, in part, because not all “adult-onset” diseases are alike. Sometimes, there are interventions that may be beneficial in childhood; sometimes, parents seek the reassurance that might come with a negative test result.
The requirements for the diagnosis of Huntington's disease (HD) include medical history, family history, neurological examination, brain imaging testing (including magnetic resonance imaging or MRI and computerized tomography or CT), laboratory tests, and genetic testing (when necessary).
Side Effects:
• MRI: Small children have to be sedated because they must lay PERFECTLY still (which little kids aren't willing to do) for up to 45 minutes (impossible for even the most patient children), and the machine can freak them out. (It's loud and a very small space.)

Side effects of the drugs are sleepiness (obviously), nausea, vomiting, irratibility. Sometime headaches and temporary light sensitivity, but it's rare and depends on the drug they use.
• CT scans (also known as CAT scans) create 3-dimensional pictures using ionizing radiation. On a daily basis, the average person is exposed to naturally occurring radiation. However, the amount of radiation used in a CT scan is significantly more than other diagnostic tests. According to the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, a CT scan of the head exposes a child to the amount of radiation she would naturally experience during approximately eight months. An abdominal CT scan exposes a child to the amount of radiation she would naturally experience during approximately 20 months. On the other hand, a chest X-ray doses a child with the amount of radiation she would naturally experience in about one day. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ionizing radiation is a potent carcinogen, meaning it causes cancer. “At present, there is no prevention, treatment, or lifestyle change that has an effect on expression of the gene. For these reasons, pediatric and genetic medicine specialty societies advise against testing children. Josh will have plenty of time to decide whether he wants to be tested once he is an adult.”
Are couples testing their embryos or fetuses for Down syndrome, with the possibility of abortion, practicing eugenics?
Prenatal testing offers the opportunity to correct some abnormalities or to prepare to adjust to others, it is unfortunately often utilized to screen for diseases and abort unborn children who are deemed defective. In 2007, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) changed their recommendations for prenatal screening from offering tests to pregnant women over age 35 to offering them to all pregnant women. Their rationale was that while women over age 35 had the greatest risk for conceiving a child with Down syndrome, most children with Down syndrome were born to women under the age of 35. The expanded screening would allow for these cases to be detected prenatally.
The quest for the “flawless” child has led mothers to abort their child for easily correctible abnormalities like cleft palate. With the exponential growth in the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the pursuit of perfection has intensified. The Church rejects the use of IVF because it separates the procreative and unitive aspects of human sexuality. It dehumanizes the embryos and reduces them to manufactured products. This is most evident when the embryos created are then screened for genetic abnormalities in a process called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Those embryos found “defective” are destroyed. Sometimes, the only “defect” is that the embryos are the wrong gender. They are discarded because it is feared they will somehow unbalance the family. Embryos have also been destroyed because they carry the genes for breast cancer or colon cancer. Such actions presume that it would be better to never be born than face the possibility of cancer in future decades. Think of the people you have known whose lives have been cut short by cancer or other serious illness. Would it really be better if they had never existed? Were their lives really so meaningless.
Why will most people taking genetic testing not get good value from their money?
May vary from less than $100 to more than $2000 based on several factors
• Test methodology. Low complexity tests (e.g., single gene mutation) are less expensive than high complexity tests (e.g., full gene sequencing)
• Laboratory testing strategy. Some labs test for a large number of mutations all at once; other labs test in stepwise fashion, beginning with the most common mutations.
• Number of individuals tested. Several family members may need to be tested to obtain a meaningful test result.
• Contractual agreements. Hospitals, insurers, and laboratories negotiate contracts to set the price of testing and amount of reimbursement.
• Specimen handling. Some cell types require culturing or other special handling before testing.
• Additional services. Genetic consultation or counseling is usually recommended and sometimes required before genetic testing is performed. These fees should be considered in the total cost.