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Home > Facebook Live

Everything You Need to Know about Jewish Genetic Carrier Screening {Facebook Live Recap with JScreen}

18/02/2021 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

I’m delighted to share with you my latest Facebook Live, all about the most important wedding planning task that might not have made it onto your checklist: Jewish genetic carrier screening. While genetic screening certainly isn’t as much fun as, say, cake tasting, if you’re planning on having children it’s one of the most important steps you can take in securing your family’s future. 

On this Live, I spoke with Hillary Kener Regelman, Director of National Outreach at JScreen, a US-based not-for-profit at-home education and carrier screening program for Jewish genetic diseases. Hillary spoke with us for the first time this past July, and we had such an informative, empowering conversation about what JScreen does, how genetic carrier screening works, and what it all means for Jewish and Jew-ish couples.

We wanted to make sure all the newly engaged couples are able to benefit from her knowledge, so we brought her back for another session – where she went through the basics, answered questions from the audience, and filled us in on some recent updates at JScreen, like their new cancer susceptibility panel.

Hillary strongly believes that genetic screening should be an essential item on every couple’s wedding to-do list, and now that I’ve gotten to know her and JScreen, so do I!

What is genetic carrier screening?

Hillary began by explaining what exactly genetic carrier screening is – and what it’s not. First, it’s not a diagnostic test. JScreen’s reproductive panel won’t tell you if you yourself are at high risk of developing various diseases. Rather, JScreen’s testing lets people know if they are healthy carriers of genetic diseases who have mutations that they could potentially pass on to their future children.

Who should get screened?

The short answer: everyone planning on having children! While genetic screening is sometimes thought of as being relevant only to Ashkenazi Jews, the truth is that anyone, regardless of background, can be a carrier of one or more genetic diseases (and even as far as Jewish genetic diseases go, plenty affect Sephardi and Mizrahi populations). JScreen‘s pan-ethnic panel tests for all kinds of genetic diseases, not just those common among Jews – so it’s absolutely smart to get screened even if one or both of you are not ethnically Jewish.

Your parents may have done testing themselves, but even if that’s the case it’s still important to do it yourself before starting a family. So many more diseases are testable today than even five years ago – even if you yourself were screened a number of years ago, it’s worth considering retesting with JScreen. You can always look at the list of all the diseases they currently screen for and compare it to what you’ve already been screened for.

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Everything You Need to Know about Jewish Genetic Carrier Screening {with JScreen}

31/01/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Here at Smashing The Glass, we’re passionate about genetic carrier screening. If you’ve started thinking about growing your family, it’s something you might have heard of. You may even have considered getting screened yourself. But we’re well aware that the process can seem intimidating, expensive, and scary. It doesn’t have to be any of those things, though! Knowing whether you’re a carrier for any genetic diseases – and what your options are going forward if it turns out you are – is actually really empowering!
 
That’s why I’m so excited to tell you that this Tuesday, February 2, at 9:00 am PDT / 12:00 pm EDT / 5:00 pm GDT, I’ll be chatting on Facebook with Hillary Kener Regelman, Director of National Outreach at JScreen, a US-based not-for-profit at-home education and carrier screening program for Jewish genetic diseases.
 

GET EMPOWERED

Hillary spoke with us this past July, and we had such an informative, empowering conversation about what JScreen does, how genetic carrier screening works, and what all this might mean for you. We wanted to make sure all the newly engaged couples are able to benefit from her knowledge, so we’re bringing her back – plus, she’ll be filling us in on some recent updates as JScreen continues to expand their testing repertoire (including testing for cancer susceptibility genes like BRCA).
 
JScreen‘s mission is to give individuals and families easy access to information convenient home testing (so you can get the process started even in lockdown) at a reasonable price point. Screening for over 200 genetic diseases – including those that are commonly found in Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi Jewish populations – is performed by a certified laboratory and results are reviewed and reported to participants by genetic counselors, so if it turns out you are a carrier for a disease, your counselor will be there to talk you through the options (and there ARE options!).
 

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Everything You Need to Know about Jewish Genetic Carrier Screening {Facebook Recap with JScreen}

30/07/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

I’m so excited to share with you my latest Facebook Live with Hillary Kener Regelman, Director of National Outreach at JScreen, a US-based not-for-profit at-home education and carrier screening program for Jewish genetic diseases.Jewish genetic screening is SUCH an important topic for every couple thinking of having children, and I’m so glad Hillary was able to help demystify the process.

I admit it isn’t something I knew much about before speaking with Hillary, but after chatting with her I see both how essential testing is to every couple’s family planning process AND how easy and accessible JScreen has made it. They’re on a mission to put genetic screening on every prospective parent’s radar and to clear up the misconceptions so many of us have about the process – and after chatting with Hillary, I’m totally convinced that, as she says, genetic screening should be an essential item on every couple’s wedding checklist.  

What is genetic carrier screening?

Hillary started off by explaining exactly what genetic carrier screening is – and isn’t. It’s not a diagnostic test. Rather, JScreen’s testing lets people know if they are healthy carriers of genetic diseases who have mutations that they could pass on to their children.

Who should get screened?

While genetic screening is sometimes thought of as something relevant only to Ashkenazi Jews, the truth is that everyone planning on having children should get screened, regardless of background (and, as far as Jewish genetic diseases go, there are plenty that affect Sephardi and Mizrahi populations too).

JScreen offers a pan-ethnic panel, testing for all kinds of genetic diseases, not just those common among Jews – so it’s very much worth screening if one or both of you are not ethnically Jewish.

And even if your parents did testing, it’s still important to do it yourself before starting a family, since so many more diseases are testable today than even five years ago (which means that if you yourself were screened a number of years ago, it’s worth considering retesting with JScreen).

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How to Create a Memorable Experience for Your Guests {Facebook Live Recap with Michelle Jacobs}

26/05/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

I’m so excited to share with you my latest Facebook Live with the incredible luxury wedding planner Michelle Jacobs of Elegante by Michelle J. Based in London with a focus on destination weddings and wedding weekends, Michelle is truly one of the best when it comes to working with Jewish and Jew-ish couples to craft standout wedding experiences (and is a favourite among STG brides!), and I was lucky to be able to chat with her at The Wedding Gallery in Central London about ways to make your wedding pop while at the same time keeping everything accessible for guests.

Michelle is just so full of wedding wisdom, and if you’re working to create a one-of-a-kind, ultra-memorable day everyone will enjoy (and honestly, who isn’t?), this Live is 100% worth your time. Starting with the premise that happy guests are what make or break a wedding’s atmosphere, Michelle’s got tips that apply to weddings of any budget and style.

Jewish wedding at Villa di Maiano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy_0029

Chloe and Danny‘s Tuscan Jewish wedding, planned by Michelle! Photo by David Bastianoni

Focus on Guest Experience

We started off by chatting about how you can make sure your guests have a fantastic experience at your wedding from start to finish. This starts from the moment you send out those invites: pumping your guests up for your big day is step 1 to creating a killer atmosphere on the day. 

How to do it? First off, if you’re getting married somewhere far off or out of the way, make sure they know how to get there and what kind of arrangements you’ve made to help get them home (or back to their hotels) at the end of the night.

Second, if you have guests who may not have attended a Jewish wedding before, make sure to keep things accessible for them. Creating a wedding program outlining and explaining the elements of the ceremony is a wonderful way to do this. It’s also thoughtful to let guests know in advance about anything that might catch them off guard, like if they’ll be asked to wear kipper, or if you’ll be having separate dancing or separate seating for the ceremony.

Another type of guest who might need some special looking after? Anyone attending alone who doesn’t know any of the other guests. One idea is to assign a group of people to take care of your solo guests on the day (and seat them all together); another is to start a Facebook group for your guests in advance of the big day so they can get to know each other a bit beforehand!

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The Songs You’ll Need for Your Jewish Wedding {Facebook Live with Kimpton Fitzroy London and Jonny Mosesson}

06/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 17, at 7:00 pm GMT (3:00 pm EST/12:00 pm PST), I’m so as excited as I’ll be going live at one of my very favourite London venues, Kimpton Fitzroy London, with the ridiculously talented Jonny Mosesson, the chazan I had at my own wedding!

A firm favourite with STG brides, Jonny is truly the very best – and when it comes to Jewish wedding music, his knowledge is positively encyclopaedic. And he’ll be sharing it all with us, as he performs a multitude of songs from different traditions that you may consider including at various points on your big day.

He’s here to help you choose the right music for your Jewish wedding, so this is your chance to ask away!

Kimpton-Fitzroy

Interspersed with Jonny’s angelic singing will be a live Q&A, where you can ask me, Jonny, and the Kimpton Fitzroy London weddings team anything you’ve ever wanted to know about either Jewish wedding music OR this in-demand Jewish wedding venue. Definitely not to be missed!

We’ll be filming live from Kimpton Fitzroy London’s magical Palm Court, complete with a soaring glass ceiling that floods the room with light, comfortable clusters of seating, and lots of gorgeous greenery — the vibe is conservatory meets lounge meets members club, and it is exactly as fabulous as it sounds. Intimate yet fun, hip yet classic.

But that’s not all! Once we’ve wrapped up with Jonny, we’ll be launching straight in to Facebook Live #2 of the evening, a venue tour of the Kimpton Fitzroy London starting at 8:00 pm GMT / 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 PM PST.

Located oh-so-centrally in Bloomsbury’s Russell Square, the Kimpton Fitzroy London combines historic charm with modern luxury. It’s a mega-luxe, uber-stylish place, with every inch full of the chicest of contemporary details.

There’s no place like it for an urban glam Jewish wedding in London, and I can’t wait to take you along as I tour through all the stunning spaces on offer for your big day.

In between it all, we’ll be enjoying delectable canapés and drinks from Adam Nathan Catering, Kimpton Fitzroy London’s preferred partner for kosher-style catering.

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