Do you know any one (or any couple) that has thought this? I imagine the odds of having a child with a physical or mental disability are quite small, but the chance is there. Having a child with a disability must be rewarding and very challenging. I suspect there is a lot of emotion and financial stress on the parents (and siblings), along with the stressors on the disabled child. Do you know anyone who decided not to have kids for this reason? Sounds crazy, I know.
I know several couples (4 couples to be exact) who have a disabled child and went on to have another child. One child has a mitochondrial genetic disease, another child with Down Syndrome, another child with facial acromegly and another child who recently passed away from a metabolic disease. All four of these couples went on to have another child but did so with assistance- genetic screening of family members, in vitro fertilization and genetic testing of fertilized egg prior to implantation. The resulting children are all healthy to date.
Good luck.
Thanks for sharing.
I know a couple whose first child had some major issue so they terminated the pregnancy. Second child came along and is perfect.
Again, thanks for sharing.
During my wife's first pregnancy we went in for an ultrasound at 24 weeks and it showed the baby's left leg missing. I tripped her on the way home and she fell down the stairs and miscarried.
ertert wrote:
I know a couple whose first child had some major issue so they terminated the pregnancy.
That's a bit of a euphemism.
I have two siblings who have spinal muscular atrophy. Both have spent their entire lives confined to electric wheelchairs. I lucked out, I'm perfectly healthy and a good athlete and runner to boot.
After getting married I got tested to see if i'm a carrier. I lucked out again. Out of my mom, dad, brother, and sister, i'm the only one without this gene in my body. Crazy. Anyway, if I had been a carrier, and my wife was tested and we found out she was a carrier too, I would have wanted to adopt. Knowing the difficulty my siblings, parents, and our whole family has faced, I would not chance it if the odds were 1 in 4.
That line of thinking mkight be more common with older couples deciding not to have another child for that fear.
Sustain wrote:
Do you know any one (or any couple) that has thought this? I imagine the odds of having a child with a physical or mental disability are quite small, but the chance is there. Having a child with a disability must be rewarding and very challenging. I suspect there is a lot of emotion and financial stress on the parents (and siblings), along with the stressors on the disabled child. Do you know anyone who decided not to have kids for this reason? Sounds crazy, I know.