Thank you for apologizing for the tone of your "yelling" post. I wasn't going to respond to that post, but I would like to respond to you now. I understand your feelings and think you have very valid reasons for feelings them.
As a woman with CF who decided to get pregnant, I would like to answer some of your thoughts from my point of view.
"I simply do not understand how someone with CF would risk their own health to birth a child who also may become a carrier or born with CF "
Personally, I am very healthy and I talked to my doctors about the risks I would be taking if I got pregnant. I also read the research. As a matter of fact, the research shows that women with CF who have good health before getting pregnant usually have healthy pregnancies. I decided the risk was low enough to be worth taking. And pregnancy didn't affect me at all - my FEV1 stayed at 113% though out my entire pregnancy.
As far as creating a child who will be a carrier, my husband and I also decided this was worth the risk. Yes, there is some research that shows being a carrier may have an impact on health, but I am a bit skeptical of this mostly because of what I have observed in my own life: Both of my parents are carriers, as are some of my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins and they do not have any CF symptoms. IMO, the biggest impact being a carrier has on my daughter is that she has a 1/25 chance of marrying another carrier, which means she might have to make serious decisions when it comes to having her own child. Again, we decided a 1/25 chance of her having to do IVF/PGD or adopt was worth the risk.
Why didn't we adopt? Well, for selfish reasons. The same reasons that millions of people decided to have their own children. It was very expensive and we wanted our own child. We wanted a baby that we could raise from the moment it was born. We didn't want to have worry about our child being taken from us.
So, I hope that answers some of your questions. You may not agree with my decision to have a child, and that's fine with me (however, the downright nastiness of some other people (not you) is not okay with me). Not everyone is going to agree with my decision, and I am not trying to change your mind, but maybe now you can have a little more understanding.
As a woman with CF who decided to get pregnant, I would like to answer some of your thoughts from my point of view.
"I simply do not understand how someone with CF would risk their own health to birth a child who also may become a carrier or born with CF "
Personally, I am very healthy and I talked to my doctors about the risks I would be taking if I got pregnant. I also read the research. As a matter of fact, the research shows that women with CF who have good health before getting pregnant usually have healthy pregnancies. I decided the risk was low enough to be worth taking. And pregnancy didn't affect me at all - my FEV1 stayed at 113% though out my entire pregnancy.
As far as creating a child who will be a carrier, my husband and I also decided this was worth the risk. Yes, there is some research that shows being a carrier may have an impact on health, but I am a bit skeptical of this mostly because of what I have observed in my own life: Both of my parents are carriers, as are some of my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins and they do not have any CF symptoms. IMO, the biggest impact being a carrier has on my daughter is that she has a 1/25 chance of marrying another carrier, which means she might have to make serious decisions when it comes to having her own child. Again, we decided a 1/25 chance of her having to do IVF/PGD or adopt was worth the risk.
Why didn't we adopt? Well, for selfish reasons. The same reasons that millions of people decided to have their own children. It was very expensive and we wanted our own child. We wanted a baby that we could raise from the moment it was born. We didn't want to have worry about our child being taken from us.
So, I hope that answers some of your questions. You may not agree with my decision to have a child, and that's fine with me (however, the downright nastiness of some other people (not you) is not okay with me). Not everyone is going to agree with my decision, and I am not trying to change your mind, but maybe now you can have a little more understanding.