A question

[anonymous]

Hi,
ok i'm abit confused. I know that to have cf you have to have a gene from each parent. My boyfriend has cf and i know that if we wanted to have kids we'd prob have to do ivf anyways.If i have the gene then our kid could have it but now this is what confuses me. I always thought that if i DIDN:T have the gene we'd be fine there was no chance but my bf said to me that even if i didn't have the gene that the child could still get it cos he has cf instead of having the gene and not having cf.So my question even if i DIDN'T have the gene our kids could still get cf.
Thanks
Shell(confused)!!!

 

[Beth]

Hi, It takes both parents having the gene for the child to get CF. Your child has a chance of carrying the gene because your bf obiously caries it. But if you are not a carrier of the gene then the child cannot have CF.

 

[anonymous]

Shell, here is the breakdown of CF probability for YOUR particular situation.

1 CF parent (your boyfriend), 1 carrier parent (if you happen to be a carrier)-50% chance affected (child will have CF) or 50% unaffected carrier (JUST a carrier)
OR
1 CF parent (your boyfriend), 1 NONcarrier parent (if you are not a carrier) 100% chance unaffected carrier (JUST a carrier)

So to answer your question, if you DO NOT have the gene, your children WILL NOT have CF, they will all be carriers though.

I am in the process of creating a website for families and couples and the intended audience is men with CF who are interested in fathering their own children. I hope to have the site up in about 2 weeks or so and will be posting the website on here for all to see if they are interested. You seem to already know what you need to do (you mentioned IVF) but if in the mean time if you have any other questions feel free to email me if you wish at division902@hotmail.com

Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)

 

[NoDayButToday]

Just a comment- if having a CF child is your concern (and a reasonable one at that), since you will most likely do IVF anyway, you could always opt to do PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis). Julie's statistics are correct-- and good luck!

 

[anonymous]

Hi,
Thanks for all your replys. To the last post, if the child has cf then it has cf can't do anything about it, it wasn't really my concern, its just i thought one thing and my bf thought another thing so i just wanted to clear it up and you have all proved me right the one who hasn't got cf!!! You'd think it would of been the other way around.

Thanks again
Shell

Oh and julie i'll defo be checking out your site.

 

[anonymous]

Well
i showed this topic to my bf and he said that you where all wrong that even his doc said that we could still have a kid with cf even if i don't have the gene.
Now i think that u are all right but now i've p!ssed him off so i guess i'll have to drop it.
Thanks for your help.
Shell

 

[NoDayButToday]

You are correct in thinking that we are correct in that if you are NOT a carrier the baby can't possibly have CF. In bio this year, we've worked on Punnett squares and here's basically what I did in the situation that Dad has CF and Mom isn't even a carrier:

Dad-> AA AA
Mom
|
v
aa Aa Aa


aa Aa Aa

As you can see, there is NO situation where there are two capital As together, only a combination of lowercase and uppercase, indicating carrier. The doctor is incorrect, if you aren't a carrier, then there is NO way you can contribute a 'CF gene', and in that case it is mpossible for the baby to wind up with two CF genes. Good luck.

 

[NoDayButToday]

The alignment was off on my post, but I think you understand how the box works <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

I've told him that i think i'm right but now he's p!ssed off for me coming on here and not believing him that his answer was correct.
He said that his doc said that because he has the two cf genes then he can pass the two cf genes onto his kids, hence if i dont have the gene he has two anyways.
I've told him that i think thats wrong that a baby has to have a gene from EACH parent to have cf and that the child would only be a carrier if i don't have it but i can't seem to get through. i think maybe he doesn't wasnt to immit it cos he's the one with cf so he should know and how could i know the right answer cos i don't have it.Well thats what i think anyways.
I think i may have top drop this subject with him cos he's all annoyed now but i don't want to cos its an important subject.
Thanks
Shell

 

[anonymous]

Shell, I am going to find an online version of the book I get my info from (growing older with CF a handbook for adults) and if his doc really is telling him that (and he's not just SAYING it so he can be right-gotta love those men <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">) I would look into getting a new doc.

Julie

 

[Emily65Roses]

Wow, his doctor really shouldn't have a degree. Yes, he has two CF genes, but each CF child needs ONE GENE from BOTH PARENTS in order to have CF. Given that your boyfriend has CF, the child will most certainly get a CF gene from him, making the child a carrier. But unless you carry the gene as well, the child can in no way have CF itself.

 

[anonymous]

Shell,
Just try to explain the simple basic, that the baby will inherit only one copy from the father and only one copy from the mother, PERIOD. I mean if we, as humans were capable of passing double jeans then we could potentially clone ourselves, which of course is not posible. We must inherit genes from both parents. I honestly think he misunderstood his doctor. He has probably been told several times that his risk of having a baby with CF is much higher than anyone that is just a carrier, because he will definatley pass the defective gene to his child, which is true. But he must have a child with a carrier for the baby to have CF. If you have a child with him you will pass a gene from chromosome 7 (or is it 11?) on to your baby, and so will he. Only yours is normal and his is defective and that is that.

 

[anonymous]

Last poster, that was a very good post-easy to understand and to the point. You were right the first time, it's chromosome 7.

Julie

 

[anonymous]

To the doctor's defense - if it were possible for us to diagnose carriers with 100% accuracy then all of the above is true. But what if the carrier test doesn't pick up the gene mutation? They used to test for ~50 mutations years ago, now good labs test for over 100 mutations. Someone who is "not a carrier" according to an inaccurate carrier test could have a child with cf. I don't imagine this was what the doctor was thinking but just a thought.

Jason 30 w/cf

 

[anonymous]

Hi,
Shell here. I'm going to print this out and give it one last bash at convincing him that I'M right the one without the cf!! Thanks for all your help i knew i was right lol. Women are always right!!.
Thanks again
Shell.