[1] This kind of testing is used most often by couples who are considering becoming pregnant to determine the risks of their child inheriting one of these genetic disorders.
Usually the only time a person finds out that they are a carrier for a specific genetic disorder is when they have an affected child.
[2] For these kinds of genetic diseases to be present in a person, two copies of the abnormal gene are needed.
[1] Many of these genetic disease are fatal at a young age which oftentimes encourages parents to get tested.
[4] For example, people of African American ethnicity have a much higher likelihood of being a carrier for the autosomal recessive disorder called sickle cell anemia.
[3] People of one ethnicity in particular, Ashkenazi Jewish, have a tendency to be carriers for a wide variety of recessive genetic disorders.
[6] An alternative method of testing, available for some conditions, analyzes gene products that are usually present in a person that keeps the genetic disorder from occurring.