Will my baby get diabetes?
If you have diabetes you may ask yourself: “Should I have a baby when there is an increased risk of the child getting diabetes?” In one study 3% of the children of mothers with diabetes went on to develop diabetes themselves by the age of 10-13 years (which is about 10 times the risk of the child of a mother without diabetes). Although it is believed that half the factors contributing to diabetes are inherited, only about one in every 10 children with newly diagnosed diabetes has a parent or sibling with diabetes. The hereditary disposition for developing Type 1 diabetes is very common, at least 40% according to certain studies. From this it follows that a person with diabetes should not automatically be discouraged from having children.
A few people may choose adoption instead. They do this because of increased risks, both for the child acquiring diabetes and for the mother, of going through a pregnancy with diabetes, especially if she also has diabetes complications.
It appears that the risk of a child of acquiring diabetes decreases as the mother′s age increases. If a mother has diabetes and is older than 25 when she gives birth, the risk to the child of developing diabetes later in life is not significantly increased compared with mothers without diabetes. Another study showed that 8.9% of children born to fathers with diabetes, but only 3.4% of children born to mothers with diabetes, developed the disease before the age of 20. If the mother was 8 years old or younger when she developed diabetes, the risk of the child was considerably higher, 13.9%, in this study.
This content is based on Dr Ragnar Hanas' helpful book, Type 1 Diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults. Click here to order copies of Dr Hanas' book online.
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