Genetic screening after the embryonic stage and infancy is very controversial, because groundbreaking treatments still remain to be discovered for a large number of hereditary diseases. Even when screening tests indicate the presence of a disorder before any symptoms appear, no radical cures are available. This can cause considerable unnecessary distress.
過了胚胎或新生兒時期，基因篩檢就顯得爭議較大，原因是多數遺傳性疾病在治療上仍無突破性的發展，即使能在發病前篩檢出來，也沒有什麼根治的辦法，反倒令患者情緒低落，惶惶不可終日。