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My husband and I are considering having a baby in the next year or so. We are very worried that I will pass Crohns on to our baby. No one in my family has Crohns except my third cousin, but his 12-year-old son (my fourth cousin) was just diagnosed, which gives me reason to be concerned that I might pass this on as well.

I was diagnosed at 20 after suffering from terrible Crohns symptoms for 2 years, and even as an adult, this has been a hard fight for me, dealing with colonoscopies, humira shots, constant lab work....I can't imagine dealing with this as a child.

Also, there's that whole gray area---we may have a child who is perfectly healthy for years like I was, then be diagnosed when she is an adult. Or we could worry forever that every stomach virus our child has is the beginnings of Crohns.

Or we could adopt a child, but of course that child would bring her parents' health background in tow, which could be as bad or worse than Crohns!

Anyway, at this point we don't know what to do! Any parents out there with Crohns who have/have not passed it onto their kids? We appreciate any advice/info!

 Reply posted for joymc84.

This is an area we are also dealing with.  We went and met with a genetic counselor to go over statistics and medicinal complications.  I think it was very beneficial.  We still do not know what the right choice is.  My husband had his entire colon removed six years ago, and we are concerned about passing chron's on and want to meet with a medical specialist to find out what potential issues may occur because of his medicine and how that may or may not affect a developing fetus.  Then there is the adoption debate and what potential illnesses they may develop.  I do not know what the answer is but we do know how horrible living with chron's can be at times.

 Reply posted for joymc84.

I am new to this site. I was looking through it yesterday for the first time and I read about some children who have UC or Crohn's. It was actually very scary because my son has been getting cankersores in his mouth and has had a lot of problems with stomach pain and constipation. The scary thing is that the children I read about yesterday said that they had experienced these things as well. It is my biggest fear that my children will have to go through the things I have had to with Crohn's.

I am a strong person and I have always pushed myself to go forward even when I was feeling my worst. I have always wanted to be a mom more than anything, but I feel terrible about the possibility of having passed this disease to my children. I hope that I have been a good example to them though so they will be able to lead a wonderful life whether they have the disease or not.

I am blessed to have my children and I am grateful that I get to share my life with them. I will never regret having my children despite knowing that they may develop UC or Crohn's. I will take care of them to the best of my abilities and support them no matter what. If we worried about everything that could happen - no one would ever have children. There is always a risk of what could happen, but you have to decide that it is worth the risk. The joy far out weighs it.

 Reply posted for joymc84.

i'm going through the same thoughts with my husband; we want to have kids in the next 3 eyars but i'm worried about being too sick to have them, or passing this on.

 i was diagnosed with crohn's when i was 18. my mom has UC, my cousin has UC and rhuematoid, my aunt has IBD and rhuematoid, and my grandma has rhuematoid; we basically have our own little community and we pass along info and help get each other to doctor appointments and whatnot. my mom wasn't diagnosed until after i was born. however, my other 3 uncles and 3 cousins are all symptom-free.

basically, since these things are a genetic predisposition, you won't really know if your kids will have it or not, to my understanding. if anyone has any info on this, or on good ways to boost your body and health prior to becoming pregnant with these kinds of health problems, i'd love to hear it!

 Reply posted for joymc84.

I appreciate your concerns and think that my daughter will probably have the same questions when she is older.   She was recently diagnosed at the age of 8 years old.  There is no history of Chron's disease on either side of our families and does not have any of the genetic markers.  All I would say to you is there are no guarantees and if you do decide to have your own children and they develop Chrons they will be blessed to have you as a parent to help them cope with this disease.

 Reply posted for joymc84.

I had my kids before I was diagnosed with UC and am glad because I did not have to worry about passing it on.  Even after diagnosis I was told that it was not passed on.  Well, my teenage son did end up getting it and has it much worse than I do.  Would I have not had children if I'd known that this were a possibility.....Of course I would have.  There are so many more things that can and will go wrong during your life but you don't avoid life just because it "might" happen.  My life has been  wonderful even though I have had to learn to do things around symptoms etc.  My son has had an incredible life even though he has been housebound for about two years.  Don't miss out on children just because this is a possibility, medical advances are happening all the time.  Best Wishes. 

 Reply posted for joymc84.

This may be of some consolidation... The "100 Questions & Answers about Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis: A Lehey Clinic Guide" book I recieved for free via CCFA is copywrited in 2007 and states under question 92, "If I have Crohn's disease.. what is the chance that my children will have it?" that "If you have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, there is about a 4-9% chance that you will have a child with IBD. If both parents have Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, the risk for the child increases to 36%. However, this risk is small, and just because you have IBD doesn't automatically mean that your kids will have it, too."

Then it goes on to say, "Several genes have been identified as associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. One is called the NOD2/CARD 15 gene, which has more than 60 variations... The NOD2/CARD 15 gene is believed to play a role of a permissive gene, meaning that the gene ceannot cause IBD by itself, but can help facilitate the expression of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Rather, Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis may be caused by a combination of genetic influences and an environmental trigger, such as bacterium." ...or toxins, I would imagine.

So there you go, there are your chances. Hope this helped with your decision. By the way, you can get your free copy of this book from CCFA, too. It's by Andrew S. Warner, MD & Amy E. Barto, MD... mine came surprisingly fast and has proven very useful, even when I thought I knew everything there was to know about IBD and had already read 2 books about it atop of hours of internet research.

Good luck and kudos where it's due. :)

=Carla

 Reply posted for joymc84.

Good evening,

I started having Crohns symtoms at 10years old and I was diagnosed when I was 12 years old.  My parents do not have Crohns or any Gastro problems, My grandfather might have had crohns but never diagnosed as he had alot of the same symtoms I had.  I have 3 older brothers and I am the baby, My oldest brother was diagnosed with Crohns when he was 25 years old and he is now 51 years old and I am now 43 years old.  A long time ago I had a doctor who said they really could not tell me if I would have children with Crohns or if it might skip a generation. Unfortunatly my brother and I could not have children of our own, he adopted 2 children and I just had a total hystorectomy last march.  It was always a concern of mine also if I would pass this Disease onto my children.  No one else in my entire family has Crohns and my other brothers all have children and none of them have it, ( God Bless).  I wish I could tell you more, but I am sure someone on this site will have more information for you.  God Bless and I do hope you are feeling ok.

Littlestar