Skip to main content

PROJECT NARRATIVE: Genetic counseling and health education are essential components of any early diagnosis program for sickle cell disease to ensure that risk results are effectively communicated by healthcare workers to those at-risk couples and their families. These are also important within the context of culture and health literacy because health beliefs and attitudes of the general public have a significant impact on health seeking behaviors that substantially influence reproductive decisions made by individuals and families.

PROJECT NARRATIVE Between 1907 and the mid-1970s, 32 US states passed and implemented eugenic sterilization laws that authorized the sterilization of people considered unfit. Our epidemiological, historical and mixed-methods analysis of over 32,000 eugenic sterilization requests in five US states (California, North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan and Utah) identifies varying demographic patterns and documents changes in how eugenics laws were applied over time.

This project will address the ethical, legal and social implications of the use of genetic testing as part of US immigration procedures for family reunification. Last year, approximately two-thirds of immigrants who came to the US as legal permanent residents were family sponsored under the family reunification provision. Under this provision a sponsor, who must be a US citizen or permanent resident, petitions to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to bring his or her family members (spouse, children, parents or siblings) to the U.S.

Subscribe to Immigrant