Preparing for the future
Tara is focused on work and college today and a career and family for the future. In her early twenties, Tara is Ashkenazi Jewish on both sides and deeply connected to her heritage. She shares her commitment to Jewish learning and values in her role as a synagogue youth group leader.
While having kids is still a number of years away, Tara has a clear picture of what she needs to do now to prepare. “I’m a one-step-ahead kind of person,” she says. “That’s why screening is at the top of my to-do list.” Tara understands testing, before she’s in a serious relationship, is the best way to get the important genetic information she’ll need to share with a future partner before having children.
Tara is urging her friends to get screened, too. “People my age, when they talk about testing, they think STDs,” she says, referring to sexually transmitted diseases. “They’re not thinking about Jewish genetic diseases even though many of them are sexually active and unintended pregnancies do happen.”
