Worrying about another child with Asperger's

[Guest guest]

Dear Sandy,

Your son and his girlfriend could go for genetic counseling, but there's no

assurance that it could accurately predict the likelihood of their having a

child with Asperger's. I don't think researchers have yet found a single

gene that causes Asperger's. The latest research I have seen says it could

be caused by a combination of several different genes. There is no way of

knowing at present whether these genes are carried by the father or the

mother of any one child.

In my own family's case, there is nobody I know of for several generations

back (on either my husband's or my side of the family) who had the

collection of traits we would now call Asperger's syndrome. However,

several members of our immediate families have suffered from depression or

schizophrenia, and my brother has Down's syndrome. Who knows if the genes

involved in any of these conditions have anything to do with Asperger's? I

guess my point is that having a child is always a leap of faith. We never

really know if the child will be " normal. " When you consider all the

processes that have to work perfectly for a fertilized egg to develop into a

child, it seems like a miracle to me that any of us are born at all.

It sounds as if your son's fiancée is looking for guarantees. I feel for

her, but I think that unless she can manage her fears (preferably with a

counselor's help), she would be doing both him and herself a disservice by

marrying him.

Jill