The Government Has Your Baby's DNA (?)

When Annie Brown's daughter, Isabel, was a month old, her pediatrician asked Brown and her husband to sit down because he had some bad news to tell them: Isabel carried a gene that put her at risk for cystic fibrosis.

While grateful to have the information -- Isabel received further testing and she doesn't have the disease -- the Mankato, Minnesota, couple wondered how the doctor knew about Isabel's genes in the first place. After all, they'd never consented to genetic testing.

It's simple, the pediatrician answered: Newborn babies in the United States are routinely screened for a panel of genetic diseases. Since the testing is mandated by the government, it's often done without the parents' consent,

What angered the parents of this little girl is the fact that they never gave consent to have their baby screened for DNA testing. I understand how parents could be unsettled, but it doesn't seem too strange to me. It is a little strange that they keep the DNA on file, but then again it could be used to help find the child if they go missing. I think the government should tell parents that their kids will be subject to the DNA screening, and that their DNA will be stored.