After successfully passing all the selection tests, 17-year-old Carys Holmes was rejected by the Army because two of her family members had breast cancer. Carys has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the Brca1 gene from her mother, which increases the risk of breast cancer. Although she has not been tested for it yet, the Army took the decision to reject her due to an “extensive” history of breast cancer in her family.
Carys trained hard for the tough three-day selection process at Whittington Barracks, near Litchfield, in Staffordshire, and almost made it through, having passed the fitness and cognitive tasks with flying colours. In an unexpected turn of events, Carys was informed that she had been rejected and was taken aside, told she was not going to be accepted because of her family history of breast cancer.
“Having this gene doesn’t guarantee she’s going to get breast cancer,” says Rachael, Carys’ mother. “And even if she did have the gene, she can take steps against that. It’s really short-sighted of them, bearing in mind how they are crying out for recruits.”
Carys appealed against the Army’s decision, but the appeal was not successful. Emma Norton, a lawyer and director of the Centre for Military Justice, says Carys’ case is very unusual and the Army’s actions could be discriminatory and a serious own goal. According to the Army’s medical policy, some disorders that can be passed on in families are considered grounds for rejection. For example, people who have been treated for cancer, cured and discharged from medical care can still join up, the policy says.
The case highlights the need for the Army to improve its reputation amongst women and encourage more youngsters to join up. Wendy Watson, who set up a national helpline for people with a family history of breast cancer, agrees that Carys’ case is one of sex discrimination, since men can also carry the faulty gene and develop the disease. Also, some women with the gene have preventative mastectomy (breast removal). The Army says that if a candidate appears to be at risk of a genetic disorder, the occupational physician responsible for recruit selection will assess the risk and its impact on the candidate’s health and safety in a military workplace, usually without the need for genetic testing.
The Army has confirmed it is reviewing Carys’s case, and the issue is now being managed by the Army’s head of recruiting. Carys’ case has sparked concern and raises the question of whether the Army is committing a human-rights violation and is operating a blanket policy of automatically excluding applications from all women who have a history of breast cancer in their family, discriminatory, especially as they pointed out that they are in need of recruits
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