Dor Yesharim & Chareidim

ParshaBlog, in his link roundup, wites the following:

A Mother In Israel has an ongoing series of posts about marriage in the religious Zionist community. (See part one, on dating readiness; part two, on meeting the one; and part three, on genetic testing.) Regarding the last, she speaks about Dor Yesharim:

I once heard Professor Ari Zivotovsky on the topic of genetic defects (any errors are my own). He explained that the religious Zionist or modern Orthodox community has the biggest problem with genetic testing. In the charedi community, shadchanim (professional matchmakers) are in control and don’t consider a match before getting genetic approval from Dor Yesharim... 

Dor Yesharim works like this: The organization approaches high school and yeshiva students, take blood samples, and run tests for a variety of genetic diseases... 

Individuals do not receive the results of their tests. Instead, they get a personal number. When a suggestion is made, someone must call Dor Yesharim with both code numbers, and an answer is given within a few hours as to whether they are compatible or not. 

Why not just let individuals test themselves? After all, if they are old enough to get married surely they should be able to handle knowing their genetic status. It all comes down to a stigma.

This is probably the reason why Dor Yesharim works.

ParshaBlog writes:

Stigma, though, for being a mere carrier, is likely to be a greater problem for the chareidi community, not necessarily the religious Zionist community. On the other hand, it is likely much cheaper than independent testing for two individuals.

Dor Yesharim isn't that expensive, in any case. In the Yeshiva/School setting it runs at about $150 to $200. I still think it would be somewhat of a problem even in the Dati Leumi crowd, although admittedly not am much as in the chareidi world.

A website like www.23andme.com will take a saliva sample and give you access to your entire genetic code. All for about $500, or less.

I'd like to note here that using 23andme's services is illegal in the state of New York and some other states as well.

Its still cheaper to use Dor Yesharim for both spouses that 23andme for one!