Impacts of variants of uncertain significance on parental perceptions of children after prenatal chromosome microarray testing.

OBJECTIVE: There are concerns regarding the potential harms in receipt of prenatal chromosome microarray (CMA) results, particularly variants of uncertain significance (VUS). We examined the influence that the return of genomic results had on parental well-being and perceptions of children's development.

METHODS: Parents (n = 138) of 83 children who underwent prenatal chromosomal microarray testing completed questionnaires assessing perception of children's development, parent-child attachment, parental mood, parenting competence, martial satisfaction, satisfaction with the decision to undergo testing, and attitudes about genetics at age 12 and/or 36 months. Responses were compared between parents who received normal/likely benign results and VUS results.

RESULTS: Compared to normal/likely benign results, parents who received VUS results rated their child as less competent on the BITSEA scale at 12 (β = -1.65, P = .04) though not 36 months (P = .43). There were no differences in parent mood, marital satisfaction, or parenting competence. At 36 months, parents in the VUS group reported less satisfaction with their decision to undergo genetic testing (β = 1.51, P = .02).

CONCLUSION: Chromosome microarray VUS results have limited impact on parental well-being and perception of children's development. However, the initial diminished perception of child competency and later dissatisfaction with genomic testing indicate the need to assist parents in coping with ambiguous results.