By means of 10 case reports, the significance of prenatal diagnosis and the risk for the progeny of parents with a balanced structural chromosomal aberration are demonstrated. The aberrations were ascertained through: a previous malformed child, previous miscarriages or stillbirths or through fetal cell analysis during prenatal diagnosis performed for independent reasons. Theoretical considerations concerning the estimates of risk figures in these families are presented and the currently available risk values which are the basis of the indication for prenatal diagnosis, given.