In her new short documentary Fifty Percent, Lillian Hanly grapples with an agonising decision: should she get tested for Huntington’s disease? Her grandfather, New Zealand artist and printmaker Pat Hanly, had the neurodegenerative disease, and her biological mother also has Huntington’s - as do other members of her family. Hanly has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the genetic mutation that leads to the disease, which has a range of debilitating symptoms - physical, mental and psychological.
A simple blood test would determine if she has the mutation - but at 27 years old, Hanly is conflicted about what the results might bring. Is it better to know and plan for the future, or carry on unaware?
Fifty Percent has been released as part of the latest season of Loading Docs.
