Why is my family history important to understanding my genetic risk?

Knowing your family history can give a lot of information that helps a genetic counsellor assess:

• if a condition in your family is inherited
• your chance of inheriting the condition
• the chance you’ll pass it on to your children

Your family history can give information about ancestry or heritage. This can be important because some conditions are more common in certain ethnic groups.

For example:

• Sickle cell disease is more common in people with African, Hispanic or Middle Eastern heritage
• Tay-Sachs disease is more common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish or French-Canadian heritage
• Thalassemia is more common in people with African, Asian and Mediterranean heritage