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[novemberrain10 months ago]

Hi @ebaldwin I had 2 kids prior to diagnosis of benign MS (had it for 20 years). There is no family history so it’s not something I dwell on. I’m interested to hear of other’s experience.

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@novemberrain thank you for taking the time to reply I’m thinking of starting a family and I just need to know if I’m putting my child in danger or not 😫 I also want to know if anyone has gotten pregnant on tecfidera but so far no luck 🤷‍♀️

[vixen10 months ago]

Hello @ebaldwin, this is a big and pretty open-ended question, depending on where you look for answers. There are some experts who might say it’s a combination of genetics, social and environmental factors. Me and my sister were diagnosed last year, we are years apart in age. My daughter also has a lifelong auto immune condition too. Our three doctors at different hospitals suggest that there could be a genetic predisposition to auto immunity. You know what though, we couldn’t be more different in outlook, skills, intellect, choices, despite having the same genetic backgrounds. The thing is, if we knew for certain, then we would have a cure, or MS might not even exist. We simply don’t know. Also, there are families who have only, and will only ever have one person with MS. Sorry that I haven’t been much help, but as I said, you will most likely get different answers in different places.

And not forgetting most importantly, things in the world of MS are changing immensely. Hopefully, within your child-bearing years, issues around MS will become of less consequence over time. Follow your heart lovely xx

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@vixen thank you 😊 I’m myself the only one in my family and family history who have been diagnosed with MS, it’s so frustrating however my partners Mum has a more aggressive side of MS than me ,I’m going into pregnancy thinking they will have it.

[stumbler10 months ago]

@ebaldwin , the offspring of an MSer are only slightly higher than anyone else.

As has been said above, genetics may be only one part of a very complicated jigsaw. 😕

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@stumbler
Very true

[hels10 months ago]

Hi @ebaldwin

I found this article the other day, quite long but it deduces that MS is down to environmental factors. It talks about parents born in different countries to children and the children not having MS. Worth a read.

http://chetday.com/msandfood.html

X

[mmhhpp10 months ago]

@ebaldwin
Stumbler is fight, apparently chances are low.

If you want another baby i would not wait any longer!

[beefree10 months ago]

Neurologist, Dr Overell, touches upon genetics as a predictor of MS in this MS reporters interview: https://shift.ms/msreporters-video/can-predict-will-get-ms

He suggests that if you have a first degree family member with MS, it’s still more likely that you won’t get MS than that you will.

I’d like to have children and have been thinking through what measures I might take to protect them. If I do, I plan to integrate what I’ve been learning about nutrition, exercise, stress management and vitamin D into the habits they form in their formative years.

Hope this is useful, and good luck with it.

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@beefree

Thank you for that information, I appreciate anything I can get my hands on.I too will put into practice all that I’ve learnt, I’ll also look out for signs that they have it and get it sorted as soon as possible. I was showing signs from 15 and was shoved off by doctors, I didn’t get diagnosed when I was 21 a lot of time for damage to be done.

[rachaellouise10 months ago]

@ebaldwin

Make sure you have shed loads of vitamin d3 and when the child is born give it vitamins d3 for kids.

I wouldn’t worry about it, giving your child ms ! Odds are very low and you can lessen risks with the vitamin d3 amongst other things you can look into .

Good luck baby making !! 🤙

[look10 months ago]

Hi, I have only recently signed up to this site but feel compelled to write something on the subject of having children. I was diagnosed in 1998 (aged28) and I knew already that I wanted a family so I asked the question early on. Anyway, my neurologists (one here and one in USA) both felt the risks of having kids and passing MS on to them was a tiny percentage and I should go ahead and have a family if that’s what I and my husband wanted. Anyway, 3 children later (18, 15 and 10 years) and I would say go with your instincts – my children are all healthy and active. If you go ahead you do have to plan v carefully around coming off DMDs at the right time. I am the only one in my whole family with MS and I’m sure there’s some sort of link to having had glandular fever as a teenager. Anyway, good luck!

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

Thank you guys for all your stories I really appreciate it
You have all given me the courage to go ahead confidently and reassured 😊

[doubleo7hud10 months ago]

No family history of MS here at all, not a bean I’m only one with it and iv got 3 little terrors all healthy and happy. My advice to thee is slap on the Barry White air out the underclangers and make some sweet sweet love. “Yeaahhhhhh babbbbyyyyyyy mmmmm” <—— Barry white impression with Yorkshire twang.

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@doubleo7hud Plenty of baby making happening don’t you worry 😂 just waiting to see if it’s had an affect I’m happy either way it’s a win win for me 😂

[doubleo7hud10 months ago]

No harm in making sure he he he

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@doubleo7hud

Definitely agree 😂😊

[ashory10 months ago]

It’s not something you will ever know for sure. You just have to make sure that IF it were to happen you would be OK with it and not blame yourself at that stage, probably important to make sure your partner is on the same page too so there is no blame, again, IF you had a child diagnosed.

I am also in the age range considering whether it’s a path I want to take and the things I struggle with are

1. Do I really want to take the risk no matter how small it is that I would pass on MS?

– Counter argument is, there are plenty of Women with MS who have NOT passed it on and plenty of Women without it who HAVE passed it on. I think the fact I do have MS puts me in a better position than those who don’t as I am very aware about the role good health and nutrition plays in avoiding a whole variety of illnesses so my hypothetical kid is probably better off than most.

2. How will I cope having Kids given the current symptoms I have and the possible symptoms I could end up with?

– This probably comes down to your support system and what you know about yourself and is probably my biggest concern. I know I get tired a lot, I know my legs ache a lot and I struggle to walk and that’s without a kid. How will I manage my full time job AND a kid when I am already somewhat struggling? I know my partner would help but I still worry about this and haven’t really found an answer that I am comfortable with.

3. Even if I have a happy healthy kid would I be OK with playing a sideline parent if my health declined due to MS, limiting my ability to interact with them?

– Here I am talking about severe symptoms losing the ability to walk, communicate, provide etc. This one I liken to deciding to not have a kid because I might end up getting hit by a bus. It may or may not happen but if it does and you have raised strong resilient kids things will workout, people deal with this all the time, It’s not ideal but it’s possible.

Sorry for the ramble.

[ashory10 months ago]

Also, I am the third person in my family to have MS however, neither of my parents had MS.

My Grandfather had a Sister (My Great Aunt) who we believe had MS: very similar presentation of symptoms and ended up in a wheelchair but was never formally diagnosed as it was many years ago.

My Grandfather’s eldest daughter (My Aunt) was then diagnosed with MS when she was 20ish just after having her second child, both children are females and neither have been diagnosed with MS. Both are 30+.

Then there was me… My family seemed to have bets in place as to when I would be diagnosed from the day I was born. Most of their reactions were “Oh, we were wondering when that was going to happen.” Lovely people, hence why have no relationships with them. But so it is. I’m sure their bets now would be on my Eldest Brothers Daughter if he had one but he doesn’t so we’ll never know.

[ebaldwin10 months ago]

@ashory

Thank you for taking the time to comment,I’ve been fighting my feelings about having a kid for so long however my partner has put me somewhat at ease.his mum has a more aggressive side of MS than me so he knows what I’m going through and how to handle it,he’s also said he wouldn’t want me to feel like I had to push myself straight after the baby was born so he would look after the baby for the first week or until I was okay.Hes also supported 100% my discussion to go straight back on my medication as soon as the baby was born so I wouldn’t breast feed. He’s been a miracle in my life and the reason why I’m confident now taking this step and of course you guys telling me your stories have helped an amazing amount.

Thank you