Family proceedings—Orders in family proceedings—Care order

Family Division, Baker J, 25 Apr 2013

The Family Division has held that it is not in the interests of two young children the subject of interim care orders to be subjected to genetic screening for Huntingdon’s Disease (HD).

David Reynolds for the authority. Caroline Baker for the mother. Sally Barnett for the father. Christopher Watson for the children’s guardian.

The application before the court concerned two young boys, aged three and one. Their family was referred to social services in January 2012. Their father admitted having been violent to the mother. He also stated that his mother and brother suffered from Huntingdon’s Disease (HD), a hereditary disorder of the central nervous system caused by a defective gene on chromosome IV. The symptoms usually arose between the ages of 30 and 50, though they could do so earlier. The extent of the symptoms varied from person to person. In the later states of the disease the physical and mental disabilities