A Genetics Choice I Feel Lucky to Have Escaped

Regarding Ronald M. Green's April 13 Outlook piece, "By Design: Building Baby From the Genes Up":

It is spooky to know that arguments are being made for and against couples using PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis).

I am a 43-year-old mother of four, and for three years I have been living with the knowledge that I am BRCA1-positive. Translation: I have the gene mutation discussed in Mr. Green's article. Without some action on my part, I would have about a 90 percent chance of getting breast cancer and an 80 percent chance of getting ovarian cancer before age 50. I thank God that I was born in 1964, and not 2008, a time when parents can choose to end the embryonic life of someone like me.

Currently, "pre-vivors" such as myself are taking control of our elevated risk through increased self-exams, mammograms and medical palpable exams, taking anti-cancer medications such as Tamoxifen or surgically removing body parts that are at risk for developing these cancers.

Yes, it stinks to have to make these choices, and, yes, it stinks to undergo otherwise-unnecessary surgery, as I chose to do. But I'd much rather be given this choice than not to have been given these past 43 years of life on this beautiful planet.

SARA REVELES PELLEGRINI

Brambleton, Va.