Creating Moral Space in Prenatal Genetic Services

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explicate clear research methods for doing phenomenology and hermeneutics and state how they converge into narrative ethics. Phenomenology, hermeneutics, and narrative ethics are used to explore values and beliefs that influence decision-making practices of 12 expectant couples who were eligible for prenatal genetic testing due to advanced maternal age. Seven couples who accepted and 5 couple who declined testing volunteered for this study; women and spouses were interviewed separately. Three methods for analyzing 32 verbatim interviews were developed from Husserl's descriptive theory and Heidegger's interpretive theory. Excerpts from the findings show how each provides a layer of knowledge and how they converge into a larger conversation that informs practice. The research outcomes produced (a) descriptive narratives, (b) three conceptual thematic patterns of human responding, and (c) hermeneutic interpretive exemplars. Phenomenology, hermeneutic, and narrative ethics separately and collectively offer women and their partners a way to participate in defining moral, ethical, and social issues emanating from prenatal genetic technology.