Counselling, Risk and Prevention in Human Genetic Early Diagnosis in the Federal Republic of Germany

Nemec, Birgit; Moser, Gabriele

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51783-4_22

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Historians have recovered how, starting in the 1950s, scientists in West Germany at newly founded departments for human genetics referred to both established and newer concepts to make and communicate knowledge about reproductive health (Söhner and Krischel 2019;Schenk 2013;Thomaschke 2014;Nemec and Moser 2017;Cottebrune 2013). Following the thalidomide tragedy, in the mid-1960s, non-university or municipal, state and charitable institutions were established that aimed to offer counselling and funding for the prevention of birth defects.…”

Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Choosing the best apple: counselling leaflets and technologies of communication in the history of reproduction

Nemec¹

2023

Med Humanities

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Historians have shown how the establishment of human genetic counselling in West Germany was characterised by several sociohistorical factors, in particular the impact of the legacies of Nazi biopolitics. These accounts have reconstructed continuities on an intellectual level which delayed a turn towards non-directive approaches, emphasising individual (emotional) well-being and voluntariness, and instead have prolonged a discourse that defined disability as an economic and social burden. However, while the distinct legacies of eugenics and racial hygienics are well researched, other factors that constituted counselling encounters, such as the ways of communicating reproduction and material objects’ roles in transformations of concepts, actors and their relations, have not been examined in detail. Drawing on the archives of a Marburg-based charity, this paper aimed to reconstruct these factors at the example of the production and circulation of a major family planning leaflet,Our Child Shall Be Healthy, developed ca 1977. In doing so, I want to suggest that connections between science, politics and economy were a key element in technologies of communicating reproduction. This essay approaches counselling as a communicative practice that was in continual productive engagement with different concepts of reproductive health. First, it argues that the communicative and paper technologies used in counselling interactions in West Germany changed in the aftermath of the worldwide thalidomide tragedy. Second, it argues that a novel approach to reproductive health emerged that focused on individual decision making as the basis of prosperity and emotional well-being. Taking a family planning leaflet as a site for reconstructing how people of different organisations, with different stakes and expertise converged in the design of a counselling encounter, this paper targets the crossroads of economic, political and scientific activities in the history of communicating reproductive health and reproductive risks.

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Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Choosing the best apple: counselling leaflets and technologies of communication in the history of reproduction

Nemec¹

2023

Med Humanities

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“…In the aftermath of thalidomide, individuals and families formed interest groups to challenge a status quo that perpetuated ignorance by keeping iatrogenic birth defects off biomedical research agendas (Nemec and Moser, 2017;Osten, 2011). Decision makers in politics, biomedicine and industry responded by agreeing to spend 21 million DM on a prospective clinical study on the 'course of pregnancy and child development' (DFG, 1963(DFG, : 31, 1977.…”

Section: <A>the German Research Foundation Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Duogynon controversy and ignorance production in post-thalidomide West Germany

Nemec

Olszynko-Gryn

2022

Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online

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This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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“…Wichtige Beiträge zur Geschichte der Humangenetik aus globaler Perspektive erschienen jüngst in einem von Heike Petermann, Peter Harper und Susanne Doetz (2017) herausgegebenen Band [44]. Im Kontext der Zeitgeschichte der Humangenetik in Deutschland sind hier etwa ein Kapitel zur Humangenetik als angewandte Wissenschaft in der frühen Bundesrepublik [45], Kapitel zur genetischen Beratung in der Bundesrepublik [39], der DDR [9] und -in vergleichen-derPerspektive -Österreich [15]relevant. Ein biographisches Kapitel über den ostdeutschen Genetiker Herbert Bach bietet einen weiteren Einblick in die Humangenetik in der DDR [46].…”

Section: Zeitgeschichte Der Medizinunclassified

Zeitgeschichte der Humangenetik in Deutschland

Krischel

Söhner

Fangerau

2018

Medizinische Genetik

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Zusammenfassung In Kooperation mit der und gefördert durch die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Humangenetik hat eine Arbeitsgruppe des Instituts für Geschichte, Theorie und Ethik der Medizin der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf zu Beginn des Jahres 2017 ein Forschungsprojekt zur Geschichte der Humangenetik in Deutschland seit den 1970er-Jahren begonnen. Ein weiterer Kooperationspartner ist das Institut für Medizingeschichte und Wissenschaftsforschung der Universität zu Lübeck. Methodisch zeichnet sich die Forschung dadurch aus, dass die Erinnerungen von Zeitzeugen mithilfe der Methode der Oral History erhoben und systematisch ausgewertet werden. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir die inhaltliche Ausrichtung des Projekts auf Basis des derzeitigen Forschungsstands zur Zeitgeschichte der Humangenetik in Deutschland vor. Dabei beschreiben wir die Herausforderungen des Schreibens einer Zeitgeschichte der Medizin und problematisieren die Zeitzeugenbefragung als Methode.

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Counselling, Risk and Prevention in Human Genetic Early Diagnosis in the Federal Republic of Germany

Cited by 4 publications

References 10 publications

Choosing the best apple: counselling leaflets and technologies of communication in the history of reproduction

Choosing the best apple: counselling leaflets and technologies of communication in the history of reproduction

The Duogynon controversy and ignorance production in post-thalidomide West Germany

Zeitgeschichte der Humangenetik in Deutschland

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