If i have the gene of cystic fibrosis, can my child have it?

Question

I have a one month old son can he have it?

Answer 1

In order for a baby to be born with CF both the mother and father must be CF gene carriers although the chances, if you do genetic mapping, are 1 in 4 that the child will have CF (2 in 4 that they will be a carrier and 1 in 4 that they will neither have CF nor be a carrier). Obviously mother nature never seems to quite work according to genetic mapping patterns since some families can have multiple children with or without CF, or a combination thereof.

Since CF is a genetic disease you either have or don't have it although in some individuals the symptoms of the disease are either misinterpreted or undiagnosed for years. The CF gene is recessive so typically there is family history of the disease although absence of CF diagnosis within the family is not a guaranteed sign one way or the other.

Your pediatrician should be able to do a simple test to determine whether your sonhas CF. Even if he doesn't have CF you should, at some point, have him tested to determine if he is a CF carrier since he needs to be aware of the potential consequences when he reaches an age to think if marriage and a family. Prior to having additional children, if you choose to do so, your son's father should be tested for the gene so that you can both be aware of the potential for CF.

If it helps to ease your mind, I'm a 39 year old CF patient and I've had a relatively normal life and good health aside from the CF and things specifically related to it. Two years ago, on 08/26/04 I had a bi-lateral lung transplant due to the progressive damage to my lungs over the years from lung infections and scarring. I've been married for 9 years, I'm a college graduate and graduated with honors (went to night school 12-18 hours/semester while working both a full-time and part-time job), I've worked full time all my adult life (right up to my transplant and back working 13 days after the surgery). I'm a Sr. Mgr. at the world headquarters of a Fortune 500 company and have been employed with them for just short of 17 years. My husband and I chose not to have children for a multitude of reasons but we have five feline children (with a side benefit of the lung transplant being that I don't have to ever clean litter boxes again!).

A lot of the reason I've done so well can be contributed to how my parents handled raising me with the disease. I was told as early as age 3 that I had CF and that I may not be able to do all the things other kids could do but that I should try if I wanted to. I knew I took pills and had daily nebulizer and chest physio-therapy treatments that others didn't have to do but that it was to keep me from being sick. I wasn't allowed to feel sorry for myself, although my parents were compassionate when I had down times. I was expected to get good grades in school and study the same as everyone else and although my parents obviously didn't know what my life expectancy would be they always acted as if I needed to plan for a full "normal" life. By age 10 I knew the full impact of CF and the corresponding life expectancy but it just didn't seem to apply to me since I happen to be just a bit stubborn (not surprising with a CF'er). I also look at it that everyone has some sort of challenge in their life and CF happens to be mine.

While I sincerely hope that your son does not have CF if he is ultimately diagnosed with it I hope you can be strong enough to support him as a person and not just a CF patient/medical case. CF awareness has greatly increased over the past four decades and there are many support groups both locally and on line as well as tremendous advancements in the disease treatment. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a good resource for information if you would like to do additional research. Their website is http://www.cff.org/home/.

Best wishes.

Answer 2

to locate the potential for a toddler to have a definite trait a Punnett sq. is used.If one discern isn't a service of the gene and the different discern consists of the gene or has CF. the toddler will in all probability not get Cystic Fibrosis. notwithstanding there's a 50% probability that the toddler would be a service of Cystic Fibrosis and 50% probability of no Cystic Fibrosis gene in any respect. the two way the percentages of the toddler unquestionably getting Cystic Fibrosis is 0%. The Cystic Fibrosis gene is inherited from the mummy and dad. It takes 2 to make the defective CF gene (one from each discern) and develop CF. as a result you have none and the above punnett sq. works. (edited for spelling)

Answer 3

The child's father must also have the gene, and you must both have had contributed an infected gene. If your son does not have CF, he should be tested for the gene so he will know he has it if he ever wants to have children. A simple sweat test can be done on your son. CF patients have excessive salt in their sweat.

Answer 4

If both you and the father of your son have the CF gene then your son probably has it. If you know for sure you have the gene then you should talk to your son's pediatrician at his next appointment so testing can begin. They can test you and the father to see if you are both carriers, and if so they can start the tests on your son. Good luck, I hope he doesn't have it.

Answer 5

Only if your son's father is a carrier also then he could have CF. If you are too concerned his pediatrician can do a sweat test to determine if he has it.

Answer 6

Isn't this something you should discuss with your doctor or websearch it? Do you really want opinions from a bunch of Yahoos?