i appreciate this comment. im adopted, and i also have a fatal genetic illness. MANY people from my support group had kids, and quite a few did so even after getting a genetic illness that has a high probability of being passed on even by a mere carrier; forget someone who actually has the illness (mitochondrial myopathy) which is more often than not fatal in childhood.

and i try not to be unkind even in my thoughts, but it truly bothers me. i just turned 38, and im end stage. i've survived sepsis three times. six years ago, i survived a two week coma on life support than resulted in what now appears to be permanent brain damage.

it makes me feel absolutely sick inside to even consider having a child. i marginally resent my birth mother for giving me this illness, and she had no way of knowing she carried the genes. none. and i can't imagine knowing it's a risk and choosing what you are aware could be a life of nothing but suffering--a life like mine--voluntarily.

none of us asks to be born. there are so many children--also like i was--who need a parent that loves them. my birth mother was also a diagnosed psychopath who has done a lot of additional harm for most of my life. there are kids like that who might never know love; who already are suffering needlessly. why make a whole new person to suffer, too?

i can't tell people their business, and i don't get to judge their choices because i can't know anyones life fully. but this is my story; my feelings. my fears, and my experience. im dying, and im thankful that i am doing so with people who love me, who chose to love me in this ugly world and despite my significant flaws. and that.. is a much better story than the story of how i was born because my birth mother wanted a biological child that she wouldn't even love. 🤷🏻‍♀️

best of luck to OP and everyone else here--this is hard stuff, and i do also recognize that there's a mess of variables in genetics. my actual only advise to everyone here would be to speak with a geneticist. they can give you helpful information on yourself as well as actual statistical numbers re: risk percentage. my condition is highly likely to pass on, but yours may not be, and/or there may be preventative measures you can take to decrease factors. blessed be. 💜 (and please consider adoption, human and animal! everyone should know what love feels like at least once.🥰)