Understanding Huntington's Disease

Preventing Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease is a genetic disorder, so there aren't ways to prevent the disease from developing after an individual is already born. However, parents with a family history of the disease might wish to make use of genetic testing and talk to a genetic counselor about their family planning options. Genetic counselors help at-risk parents understand the risks of having a positive test result, which means the parent will develop the disease themselves.

Couples will have to decide whether to have children or use alternatives like prenatal genetic testing or in vitro fertilization using donor eggs or sperm. There's also an option for couples to use in vitro fertilization with a genetic diagnosis before implantation. With this process, eggs are taken from the ovaries and then fertilized using the father's sperm from a laboratory. The viable embryos are tested for the Huntington's disease gene, and the ones that test negative will be implanted into the mother's uterus.