I often hear if one is dating someone of Sephardic descent, that they needn’t test with Dor Yesharim. Recently I attended a workshop with Dr. Zev Zlatopolsky, M.A., Director of the Dept. of Pre-Implantation Genetics at the Reproductive Genetics Institute, Chicago, who is consulted daily by Rabbonim, Shadchanim and individuals worldwide, who debunked this notion and strongly encouraged a Dor Yesharim test for all individuals regardless of being Sephardi or Ashkenazi. He offered a number of reasons; the two main ones being:
[a] No one knows for sure if in their Sephardic ancestry there was no marriage with an
Ashkenazic person. Therefore an Ashkenazic gene could be present and therefore would need testing. [b] Even pure Sephardic Jews need testing for there are a number of genetic diseases they may be carriers of. Screening for Cystic Fibrosis and Spinal Muscular Atrophy are recommended for persons of all backgrounds. They are included in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic and Mizrachi disease lists.
For a more comprehensive list of genetic diseases based on one’s background, see:
http://www.jewishgeneticdiseases.org/jewish-genetic-diseases/
https://www.jewishgenetics.org/dor-yeshorim
[a] No one knows for sure if in their Sephardic ancestry there was no marriage with an
Ashkenazic person. Therefore an Ashkenazic gene could be present and therefore would need testing. [b] Even pure Sephardic Jews need testing for there are a number of genetic diseases they may be carriers of. Screening for Cystic Fibrosis and Spinal Muscular Atrophy are recommended for persons of all backgrounds. They are included in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic and Mizrachi disease lists.
For a more comprehensive list of genetic diseases based on one’s background, see:
http://www.jewishgeneticdiseases.org/jewish-genetic-diseases/
https://www.jewishgenetics.org/dor-yeshorim
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