الفهرس 
INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Congenital malformations (CM) includes any morphological, functional, biochemical or molecular defects that may develop in the embryo and fetus from conception until birth, present at birth, whether detected at that time or not. Hereditary disorders and CM are a major cause of perinatal and neonatal death, in both undeveloped and developing countries.
In the Middle East, the prevalence of hereditary diseases is higher than in developed countries, this might be because the high consanguinity rates, which increase the risk of recessively inherited diseases and multi-factorial disorders. In Egypt, the overall rate of consanguineous marriage is reported to be 31% with regional variation from a low of 18% in Urban Lower Egypt to an astounding high of 36% in Rural and Upper Egypt.
Preconception genetic counseling for consanguineous marriages is considered one of the important pillars amongst the community genetic services in highly consanguineous populations. Premarital counseling is another increasingly demanded service in some countries and communities where consanguinity rates are still high. The primary goal of genetic counseling is detection of carriers and prevents inherited disorders in the newly organized families. In addition, it helped in raising the public’s awareness of genetic diseases in general, their prevention possibilities and the fear that consanguinity is a risk factor for expression of recessive disorders, which has led to an increase in numbers of couples seeking premarital and preconception counseling for consanguinity.