I JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE A BALANCED TRANSLOCATION. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MY OPTIONS AND TALK WITH OTHERS EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEMS

You have a what??? Do you mind explaining.

Hi!

I'm so sorry to hear this. The news must have shocked you the first time you heard. It doesn't help that the explanation for this condition entails a lot of greek speak. Despite that, please be assured that the condition does not classify you as unhealthy.

I'm assuming that your question is related to infertility and not breastfeeding, right?

As a geneticist, this is my understanding of balanced translocation and infertility. First of all, balanced translocation means you have a complete set of genetic material but some chunks of your genetic material have switched places. This is no problem to you, but when you produce eggs, half of them could end up normal (with balanced translocation also) and the other half abnormal (with unbalanced translocation). So, the chances of having genetically abnormal eggs, embryos and miscarriages are higher than the rest of the population. Statistics say the chance of having a genetically abnormal baby is 10-15% regardless of which parent has the balanced translocation. This figure does not consider abnormal embryos lost through miscarriage.

Having said all that, I believe that IVF coupled with PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) could be one of your best shots for fertility treatment. With IVF-PGD, the embryos that you produce are genetically tested for abnormality before they are implanted into the uterus to spare you the agony of pregnancy loss due to UNbalanced translocation. However, IVF-PGD will not eliminate the incidence of balanced translocation in your babies. In short, you will pass on this condition to them.

There are also other options such as donor eggs and adoption if genetic connection is not as important to you as the parenting experience.

Please note having balanced translocation does not mean you need to have fertility treatments. You could still have normal babies on your own but with higher chances of miscarriage and abnormality (the degree depends on what genes are involved in the translocation).

Well, I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions and clarifications.

Liche

Hi,
last month we found out that my husband has a reciprocal balanced translocation of chromosomes 1 and 5. We have an appointment with a G.C in Feb. I hooked up with some different sites with others with the same problem. Some bad news-some good., but always nice to find someone else who's going through it(Amen to that!)just know it's not the end. It may feel like it, but there is always the other side.