Smallbrit
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 284
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
In answer to the original post and the controversial title, 41 years ago, people - GPs and family - did give my mum advice on T1 and pregnancy, although it was mainly to do with her health not with mine. She was told not have children because
- she was T1 diabetic and pregnancy would be dangerous
- she was deaf
- she was old (40!, which was ancient back then!)
The 3 points varied with importance depending on who was giving the advice.
On behalf of myself, I'm very glad she ignored everyone. I absolutely agree with you that it''s a good idea for a person to be knowledgeable about hereditary illness so they can make informed decisions on how they plan their own lives, but no - I don't think it's an absolute that people should be advised not to have children just in case they pass things on.
I firmly believe in medical and societal progress. I wouldn't want the deaf world my mum had 40 years ago, nor would I want her type 1 treatment of old, but I'm not going to have to face either of those worlds either. Technology means I can almost hear perfectly, even though I am now just as deaf as she was when she had me, and I can communicate by text/online on an absolute level pegging with other people. None of that was even imaginable then, or even in my childhood, for a profoundly deaf person. My children may go deaf or have diabetes in the future, but I can't begin to imagine what will be available for them. I do think it will be better for them than for me.
Oh, and I agree with everyone else - early years parenting is an enormous emotional struggle. That bit does get better. Spoken as a mum of an 8 year old and 11 year old.
- she was T1 diabetic and pregnancy would be dangerous
- she was deaf
- she was old (40!, which was ancient back then!)
The 3 points varied with importance depending on who was giving the advice.
On behalf of myself, I'm very glad she ignored everyone. I absolutely agree with you that it''s a good idea for a person to be knowledgeable about hereditary illness so they can make informed decisions on how they plan their own lives, but no - I don't think it's an absolute that people should be advised not to have children just in case they pass things on.
I firmly believe in medical and societal progress. I wouldn't want the deaf world my mum had 40 years ago, nor would I want her type 1 treatment of old, but I'm not going to have to face either of those worlds either. Technology means I can almost hear perfectly, even though I am now just as deaf as she was when she had me, and I can communicate by text/online on an absolute level pegging with other people. None of that was even imaginable then, or even in my childhood, for a profoundly deaf person. My children may go deaf or have diabetes in the future, but I can't begin to imagine what will be available for them. I do think it will be better for them than for me.
Oh, and I agree with everyone else - early years parenting is an enormous emotional struggle. That bit does get better. Spoken as a mum of an 8 year old and 11 year old.