two bipolars having babies?

[andrea]

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Anyone have a strong opinion on two bipolar people having children together? If the parents know and can plan for their children's disease, does it make it ok to put a child through it?

 

[Kalel]

"2 bipolar patients having children" is "better" then 2 patients with sickle cell traits having children or 1 patient with huntington's disease having a child and etc. Being bipolar doesn't mean that you will have bipolar kids (risk of one parent having bipolar disease and "passing on" some psychopathology is only 30%, better odds then most inheritable disorders). And even if they do end up with bipolar disorder, they can still have as successful and fulfilling of a life as you have lived. Our pharmacological treatments in psychiatry, driven in large part by the huge financial incentives in making psychiatric drugs, are improving every year. Some day, being "bipolar" may be equivalent to being hypothyroid and just needing to take some benign medication with no side effects everyday.

 

[markglt]

um, yeah i don't think its gonna be that simple, get real. its called patient compliance, and if it's a drug it has side effects.

 

[andrea]

Kalel, you're right that if one parent is bipolar, the odds are 30% that the child will have it. But if both parents are bipolar, the odds shoot to 50-75%, making it very likely that the child will be affected. If you've ever had any experience with mental illness, I'm not sure I'd say that bipolar is "better" than sickle cell or Huntingtons. Mortality is 25% for bipolar, and lots of suffering to the rest. Anyway, it's a touchy subject with no real right answer. Many people who know they have Huntingtons or sickle cell choose not to have their own children also. I guess it depends on what the parents are willing to live with and work at.

 

[Histrionic]

Originally posted by andrea
Anyone have a strong opinion on two bipolar people having children together? If the parents know and can plan for their children's disease, does it make it ok to put a child through it?

Why don't we reintroduce the eugenics movement? We can start with the BPD's, then move to the next group of mental defectives, then ...... Give me a break!

 

[16846]

Originally posted by markglt
...My sister's father is bipolar, and our mom was schizophrenic...

Was this a grammar snafu and your sister's father is your father as well, or she is your half-sister and she has a different father than you?

 

[markglt]

Two different fathers.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

We have a lot to learn about the genes and inheritance patterns of bipolar disorder.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12660806&dopt=Abstract

 

[andrea]

Originally posted by Histrionic
Why don't we reintroduce the eugenics movement? We can start with the BPD's, then move to the next group of mental defectives, then ...... Give me a break!

Believe me, I'm not trying to push eugenics - I HAVE bipolar disorder. But I do believe in thoughtful family planning.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by andrea
Believe me, I'm not trying to push eugenics - I HAVE bipolar disorder. But I do believe in thoughtful family planning.

I agree with Andrea. For instance, we counsel patients with genetic eye diseases so that they can make informed decisions in regards to family planning. Parents have a right to know if their children have a chance of developing RP, retinoblastoma, or some genetic eye disease. This is not eugenics. It's being educated about specific diseases and applying it to family planning.