[tri-med] Re: GINA~ tri children and reproduction

> now i'm confused. i was told that our kids 
>could be sterile too..

>Yes Gina - they may be - this is what was posted
>So yes - Taylor may be infertile, and he may not 
>be. The only way to tell is to wait untl he's old 
>enough to have a favourite pastime like Dom :-))

Gina,

Let's see if I can muddy the water any more here...

Male tri-ers are more likely to be sterile, then
female tri-ers, but that's not writen in stone by
any means.  Further, mosaicism adds even more grey 
area to it. What Karen told you, is what the doctor
told Nan and me as a first step in evaluating a
mosaic tri-ers ability to potentially father a "normal"
child.

Step one is to do a regular sperm count test to see
how many are produced, and how active they are. 
Taylor's way too young to do that now, but you can
store away this info for when/if you need it.  Once
Taylor CAN father a child is substantiated, then the
SHOULD HE TAKE THE RISK OF IT question would enter the 
picture.

Step two would be to do a chromosome test on a sperm
sample to see what percentage, if any, of his sperm 
carries the mosacism.  Remember different body systems 
can, and often do, carry different percentages.  I take
it the 50% you mentioned in an earlier post was based
on Taylor's blood testing percentage.  But that has no 
proven relevence to this discussion.  Now, once they
tested the sperm and had a percentage of "normal" to 
"mosaic" sperm, then they could give you a more accurate
odds of his ability to produce a "normal" child, or in
Taylor's case a full trisomy 8 child.  Those are the
only two options he would have genetically inheritently
speaking, because his sperm could only contain his "normal"
line, or his "full T8" line.  I know you've been told
"there are no living full T8's", but better take that with 
a grain of salt too.  Remeber many of those same doctors
will tell you that T18 is "incompatible with life".  And
if you noticed, this doctor didn't want to be pinned down
to saying there were absolutely no full T8's out there
anywhere.

However, were Taylor mosaic for a partial trisomy 8p say, 
then that would change things, and he would then have
only the options of a "normal" child from his "normal"
sperm line, or a "partial trisomy 8p" from his "mosaic pt8p"
sperm line.  He couldn't pass on full 8, because he wouldn't
have the genetic material to pass it on.



Fawna, mom of Thom 24, Lara 23, Philina 20 (PT6p & Moya Moya Syndrome), wife of 
Doug,  13 =^..^='s, 3 llamas, 2 Tortoises, 1 Turtle, and a partridge in a pear 
tree.....
                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

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