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February 21, 2000

Family Planning

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Question from Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

I am a 33 year old woman who has had Type 1 diabetes for 27 years. I had a baby girl last year who is healthy. I want to have another baby but would like to know your opinion on the risks or should I be happy with one healthy child.

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

Whether or not to have more children is a very personal decision only you and your husband can make. As you can read in detail from the sections on heredity and genetics in this web site, the risk of having a child with diabetes is on the order of 4-8% for each pregnancy. Each child has the same independent risk of developing diabetes in his or her lifetime, unrelated to how many children you have. Also, each child has a greater than 90% chance of not developing diabetes during his or her lifetime.

Other factors to consider when deciding whether or not to have more children is whether or not you have any complications of diabetes that may make pregnancy riskier. Also, you should remember that every time a couple has a child (whether or not one of them has diabetes), there is always a risk of giving birth to either an unhealthy child or a child that will develop either serious medical or psychological problems in the future. In other words, although most children are born healthy, there is never any guarantee to any couple that all their children will be healthy. Diabetes in a parent increases the risk slightly.

Good luck, and whatever you decide, enjoy your healthy little girl!

TGL