The Problem With Dor Yeshorim - COL

Those who know me know that there are many frum organizations which I despise, however none more than Dor Yeshorim. *everybody attack me all at once* "But it provides lifesaving services," the list goes on. Anyways, COL, which has actually been on a decent streak as of late allowed an article to be published bashing the vaunted Dor Yeshorim written by a couple who got screwed by them. They went through the excellent shidduch system, got tested like the good little boys and girls they were and they appeared to be a match. They got married and had a kid.... and surprise! One of the diseases that they were both clear of the kid ended up with. Well, I will include a couple excerpts from the article, which I think was truly excellent.

In our communities, Dor Yeshorim is painted as The Angel. This is not only misleading; it is dangerous.

The article simply fails to mention the most important fact — Dor Yeshorim only tests for 7 diseases. There are a total of 39 life-threatening Ashkenazic diseases, made up of hundreds of mutations. 

In addition to the limited diseases, Dor Yeshorim only account for one known mutation of each disease that they actually test for. Who makes the decision of what disease is deemed "serious" enough to warrant being tested for? Is being at-risk for metabolic crisis, coma and death each moment of everyday considered serious enough? Apparently, not.

Also not mentioned is the "second panel" issue. The second panel only tests for another 7 diseases, which amounts to a total of 14 diseases. That is 14 out of 39. This second panel needs to be personally requested and an additional fee paid for. 

Besides the fact that the concept of limited panels in the genetic world is outdated, why does a second panel even exist? If those diseases are important, surely it should all be on one test? And why only for an additional seven diseases? What about the other twenty-three? 

Finally, Dor Yeshorim is NOT a medical organization, despite what their picture and tagline would have you believe.

WOAH MY GOSH!!! SO MUCH LOGIC IN SUCH FEW WORDS! Seriously, I have never seen such a logical breakdown on COL ever. I remember when they wouldn't publish my logical breakdown. They founded and excellent organization called Jnetic which works to accomplish the following:

1. Upon request of the patient, as with any other personal medical information, results should be available and explained by a genetic counselor.
2. The stigma and fear factor associated with carrier status should be broken. The answer to this is: Education, education, education. There is no shame in being a carrier; every person in the world is a carrier for at least 5 different mutations. We, as Jews, simply have a higher chance of being carriers for the same diseases because of our likely common lineage.
3. When both parties are carriers, there are ways to have healthy children to the best of science's ability. These options are Halachically and medically sound and should be explained to the community.
4. "Compatible" and "not compatible" are not medical terms, and we should not allow them to label us as such. Breaking up a shidduch (match) because both parties are carriers for a genetic mutation is something that we, as individuals, should be able to make an informed and educated decision about with the help of medical professionals. Making this decision for others is called playing G-d.
5. Cost is not a factor. Check out Jscreen. More comprehensive tests are available at a cheaper rate than that of Dor Yeshorim’s, plus they include genetic counseling.
6. MOST importantly: We all have the right and obligation to be informed and educated.

As I'm sure most of my regular readers can guess, my issue with Dor Yeshorim is #2, that we need to protect the feelings of everyone in the frum community. Facts don't care about your feelings and feelings certainly don't care about your genetics. Time to get informed in the frum community and take down the harmful mafia organization that is Dor Yeshorim. I suggest everyone take a look at Jscreen as an excellent alternative.