ORIGINAL PAPER Factors Influencing Decisions About Prenatal Genetic Testing for Autism Among Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Lei Xu 1 & Alice R. Richman 1 & Linda C. Mitchell 2 & Huabin Luo 3 & Yong-hui Jiang 4 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 Abstract Objectives Prenatal genetic testing (PGT) for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is clinically available in the USA; however, PGT- for-autism is controversial in actual clinical practices. This study investigated the association between psychosocial determinants and the intention to undergo PGT among mothers of children with autism. Methods Questionnaires were distributed through electric recruitment letters sent to the major local and regional autism parent groups and organizations. Also, paper-and-pencil-based surveys were administered in two local school settings. Results The final sample consisted of 184 mothers with an average age of 37.7 years old. The majority was Caucasian (74.5%) and most (85.4%) had attained “Some college degree,”“Bachelor’ s degree,” or “Graduate degree.” Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with mothers’ intention to undergo PGT-for-autism, controlling social-demographic variables (e.g., age race/ethnicity, income level). Results showed that “opinion of a healthcare professional,”“desire to help with autism research,” and “accuracy of the test results” were significantly associated with mothers’ intention to undergo PGT-for-autism (p < 0.05 for all). Conclusions The findings highlight the important role of health professionals in helping mothers understand PGT-for-autism, making relevant genetic testing recommendations and assisting mothers to make informed decisions regarding PGT-for-autism. Keywords Prenatal genetic testing . Mothers . Children with autism . Decisions . Intentions Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogenous group of conditions with both genetic and environmental causes (Baio et al., 2018). Individuals with ASD face unique challenges with deficit speech, nonverbal communications, social skills, and repetitive behaviors (Bauer and Msall, 2011). The persistent increase in autism prevalence in the USA is a pressing public health concern, especially regarding the methods for early diagnoses and intervention to optimize the health benefits among individuals and families with ASD (Baio et al. 2018). Due to the genetic link with autism, genetic testing has emerged as one promising area to solve the autism puzzle (Elder et al. 2017; Fernell et al. 2013). Over the past decade, considerable advances in autism genetics have been made to identify the underlying genetic factors for autism (Bauer and Msall 2011; Cater and Scherer 2013; EI-Fishway and State, 2010; Jiang et al. 2014). After the autism diagnosis, genetic testing is recommended by the American College of Genetics and Genomics practice guidelines through a tiered approach among affected or at-risk populations with autism (Schaefer et al. 2013). Prenatal genetic testing for autism (PGT-for-autism) is also clinically available and has been in- tegrated as part of the medical services offered to patients and their families with ASD both in the USA and within several European countries (Codina-Solà 2017; Johannessen et al. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-020-00151-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Lei Xu xul14@ecu.edu 1 Department of Health Education and Promotion, College of Health and Human Performance, East Carolina University, 300 Curry Court, Greenville, NC 27858, USA 2 Department of Human Development and Family Science, College of Health and Human Performance, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA 3 Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA 4 Department of Pediatrics and Neurobiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-020-00151-0