Emma is a Certified Genetic Counselor with experience in preconception and fertility genetics. She loves to “geek out” about embryos, helping people understand increasingly complex information in order to make decisions that are best for them, digging into the ever-evolving data surrounding embryo testing, and working to make the field of fertility inclusive and welcoming to all. She is a big believer in analogies (toasters, bookshelves, and bags of marbles, oh my!) and probably talks with her hands more than the average person.

Emma started her career in fertility genetic counseling in the summer of 2021 working with a telehealth company specializing in genetic counseling for patients going through the fertility process. She meets with patients referred from large fertility centers in the US and Canada to discuss expanded carrier screening, meets with gamete donors to discuss their testing results and family history, and helps patients select egg, sperm and embryo donors. She has experience discussing embryo testing options such as PGT-A and PGT-M, as well as prenatal screening and diagnostic tests. Emma developed a passion for embryos and helping patients to make sense of all the available data surrounding mosaic and segmental aneuploid embryos.

Currently, Emma works as a fertility/preconception genetic counselor seeing patients through DNAide as an independent contractor.

Emma’s Early Career

Emma’s love of genetics started early in childhood with a forensic DNA holiday gift, continued through a fruit-fly experiment in high school (coupled with a showing of Gattaca, because of course!), and continued throughout her undergraduate journey at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. In Missouri, Emma spent an inordinate amount of time in the lab, dutifully noting PCR sequencing results of frog saliva and realizing that genetics is cool, yes, but talking to people about genetics felt better. So after a few years, she was lucky enough to be admitted to the MGC Training Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her graduate thesis focused on the emotional impact of experiencing a pregnancy while practicing as a genetic counselor. While in graduate school she spent time at the high-risk maternal fetal medicine program in Baltimore, MD, where she would return for a brief stint following graduation.

Credentials:

• Graduated with a Masters in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD in 2020

• Certified Genetic Counselor, American Board of Genetic Counseling #19494

• Licensed Genetic Counselor in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington

• Member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC)

• Served as a volunteer in the Student/New Graduate Special Interest Group (SNM SIG) with NSGC as a networking task force leader in 2021 and as a communication lead in 2022

• Served as a volunteer continuing education unit (CEU) reviewer with the NSGC (2024)

What to expect from a session with Emma

Informal and relaxed tone, inclusive language, lots of hand gestures, analogies, warmth and empathy, emotional validation, and a high likelihood of a puppy tail in the background.