Genetic Counseling

[TheLibertarian]

I am not pregnant but I do have someone special in my life and I would like to be when I am feeling a little stronger. I was advised to get genetic counseling before I try to have a baby but I have a few major problems with this: There are all these funky genes in my family, between me(with celiac disease), my dad(with a thyroid disease) and my aunt(undiagnosed) but I have no info on my paternal grandfather or his family, which is where these genes must have come from. Is there any way to get counseling with a partial family history?

[Guest imsohungry]

I am not pregnant but I do have someone special in my life and I would like to be when I am feeling a little stronger. I was advised to get genetic counseling before I try to have a baby but I have a few major problems with this: There are all these funky genes in my family, between me(with celiac disease), my dad(with a thyroid disease) and my aunt(undiagnosed) but I have no info on my paternal grandfather or his family, which is where these genes must have come from. Is there any way to get counseling with a partial family history?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi! I went through genetic counseling before I became pregnant. Like you, I also did not have a complete family history (I had no information at all regarding my father's side of the family...b/c I don't know them). However, my hubby and I both went with all the information we could gather, and I was at least able to get an idea of what I was "up against." Also, because I have so many medical problems (i.e. lupus, epilepsy, celiac, sjogrens, etc.), the meeting with the genetic counselor gave me some peace-of-mind that I had done the best I could to make an informed and responsible decision before getting pregnant. Of course, this does not garantee that my child will be born healthy, but at least in my heart I know I made the most informed decision possible. I hope this makes sense! Good luck to you!

-Julie (entering my second trimester...week 14).