I do not have children yet but would like to. I read that the chance of a father passing Type 1 onto children is 9%, which is higher than the chance of the mother with Type 1. I have heard of men with children who, so far, don't have diabetes but if I was in a position to have children I'd be very worried.
I would feel very bad knowing I had brought a new person into the world and subjected them to the disruption, risk of complications and shorter life expectancy that I am faced with. What men out here have become fathers and how did you feel about all this?
Hi,
Sorry, long post and I’m not a father.
I was passed on type 1 diabetes through my mum. Her aunt also had type 1 and passed it to her daughter. My mum was 20 when she got type 1 and I was 21.
My brother was born with spinabifida, then my mums unborn daughter was diagnosed with the same but severe. Unfortunately, my sister never made it. The reason I am mentioning this is, if you decide to have children please ensure your partner takes a higher dose of folic acid. The doctor will prescribe a higher dose because the chances of having children with spina bifida is increased. My brother with the spina bifida luckily lives a very normal life but, his partner never took the recommended folic acid as he never told her he had spina bifida and the baby never survived. He didn’t know she would need it. Both diabetics and people with spina bifida need a higher dose than usual. My mum was in a clinical trial early 90’s with folic acid and went on to have my brother who is now 31 with no health conditions.
I have gone on to have two daughters, I worry they will be passed on type 1 diabetes, I hope and pray they never do! Time will tell. The advances in medicine give me a hope that if they do get it, by that time there will be even better than what we have now! The girls are almost 16 and almost 10 and so far so good. I also had overactive thyroid which is hand in hand with diabetes, I asked if I could find out if the girls would inherit the conditions, my endocrinologist said they can do the tests but what good would it do?! I knew they were right.
Diabetes is an awful condition, it can destroy your life! My mum died 3 years ago coming up, she was 55 years old. She was blind, was on dialysis (kidney failure) she had multiple amputations (toes, half her foot (Charcot foot) and half her leg. She was a size 10 most of her life. She had neuropathy of her legs, feet, hands and bowel it was devastating. She started getting unwell and foot infections at the age of 30 roughly.
This is not to scare you, my mum was useless with her diabetes, I ain’t always perfect but, the blood testing, carb counting, insulin regimes, it has all come on since the early 80’s when she was diagnosed at 20. I am 38 and touchwood, healthy, not had no hospital stays in over 10 years.
Diabetes should not stop you doing what you want to do! Look after your diabetes, take the precautions when planning on having a baby. Children are the most rewarding gifts we can have, please don’t deprive yourself of this because of this disease. I wouldn’t change having my two girls! I have every faith in the medicine of the future.
