If my unborn child's dad has paranoid schizophrenia is it likely my child will have it?

Question

My boyfriend has this illness and his mom said that she doesnt want me to go through the same thing she is going through and she thinks that i should abort my child because of the mental illness.

Answer 1

Family statistics
As can be seen from the graph below, schizophrenia definitely has a very significant genetic component. Those who have a third degree relative with schizophrenia are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those in the general population. Those with a second degree relative have a several-fold higher incidence of schizophrenia than the general population, and first degree relatives have an incidence of schizophrenia an order of magnitude higher than the general populace. Following are two images that summarize the average risks for developing schizophrenia for different groups of people. (The statistics in the two images vary slightly due to inclusion of different study data).

(Image Source: Debby Tsuang, M.D., M.Sc., University of Washington/VAPSHCS, Special thanks to Dr. Kristin Cadenhead, UCSD)

(Source: Gottesman, 1991)

It is of much interest, though, that the correlation of schizophrenia between identical twins, who have identical genomes, is less than one-half. This indicates that schizophrenia is NOT entirely a genetic disease.

Answer 2

Child may have it may not. Only abort a child because you want to not because someone else wants you to. If you abort it because of what she thinks you may never forgive yourself. I was once pregnant with a child that had an abnormality (gastroschisis- adominal wall defect with the bowels being out which is fixable usually at birth however its a rocky start and other things sometimes go wrong ect) My family and my husband wanted me to abort the baby since I had no supprt in my time of need i ended up aborting my child. Big mistake. A part of me always wishes I hadnt and now that I'm not clearheaded I see it wasnt the right choice for me. Do what you think is right

Answer 3

A person's risk of having schizophrenia is about ten times higher than the general population if that person has one schizophrenic parent.

One bad thing about all this is that you won't know for a while if your child has schizophrenia. The onset for females is usually in the mid-late teens, while the onset for males is usually in the early twenties.

Answer 4

I mean no offense but it sure seems that mental illness does run in their family, she is asking you to kill her grand child? well I hope you will share my thought, that is not an option at this point, once life starts, let it end upon its own natural course. the time to worry about having this mans child ended at the mattress.
The mother of your boy friend, raised her child more than 20 years ago, there are lots of positive gains in medicine and care for mentally challenged human beings, while you are awaiting your wonderful gift of your child, prepare a gift for your child, learn all you can about this matter and be prepared to be the mom with the answers :)

Answer 5

a child with one diagnosed parent has about a 10% genetic risk of developing the disease themselves (this is compared to a 1% risk in the general population). The risk goes up significantly if a grandparent (or other close relatives) also has schizophrenia

Answer 6

No

That mental disease/disorder does not pass on to children. It is an acquired disease due to environmental or social issues. However the child could very likely develop it if in constant traumatic contact with the ill-father.

Answer 7

It is possible that your child could have it but its also possible ur baby won't. You never know. As for the abortion ask her if she would have doen it if she knew her son would have had it.

Answer 8

I believe it would run in the family and be carried on down the line

Answer 9

1% of the population is schizo, but the number increases if there is a family member who is diagnosed. you need to question whether or not you are ready to become a parent.