Family Health History for Patients and Families

A product of the NHGRI and the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative, the My Family Health Portrait is a website that helps you create your own family health history. Using any computer, an Internet connection and an up-to-date Web browser, you provide your health information to build a drawing of your family tree and a chart of your family health history. Both the chart and the drawing can be printed and shared with your family members and your doctor.

Tracing the illnesses suffered by your parents, grandparents and other blood relatives can help your doctor predict the disorders to which you may be at risk, and help you take action to keep you and your family healthy.

In November 2004 - and to coincide with Thanksgiving, when families traditionally gather - U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a national public health campaign called the U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative.

The campaign focused attention on the importance of the family health history and encouraged all families to learn more about their health histories. To help with this, the initiative launched My Family Health Portrait: a downloadable tool for use on a personal computer to complete a family health history. One year later, in November 2005, U.S. Surgeon General Carmona furthered this initiative by launching the Web-based tool, My Family Health Portrait.