I had my genetic counseling appointment today in anticipation of next week's chorionic villi sampling procedure. I got to see my family's health and genetic history mapped out on a 8x10 piece of paper. It was a touch depressing...especially my side of the family. Let's just say that though choice or chance, my family doesn't have the best health stock. On the brighter side, I don't have a lot of risk factors for many of the genetic problems out there, so odds of the baby developing them are very low and would be due to dumb luck over genetic predisposition.
The two concerns are my age and the fact that I have an autistic child. Age...well, the chance of any genetic problem goes up as one gets older. For me the overall chances of my having a child with any genetic anomaly is 1/63, or just over 1.5%. Of course, most fetuses with genetic problems don't make it very far in first place, so the fact that I'm still pregnant at this point is a good sign.
Autism...well, that could be genetically linked as well dumb luck. Because of the little one, the counselor is going to ask my insurance company to cover a test for Fragile X, which is one (of several, alas) predisposing factors of autism and ADHD.
Of course, chorionic villi sampling doesn't catch everything--for example, neural tube defects. For that, we're starting with bloodwork. Then depending on the outcome of that, I may or may not have an ultrasound. The ultrasound is already approved so if I do need one, no insurance worries.
So we shall see. The procedure is next week.
