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Will my child have epilepsy?
Mon, 08/27/2018 - 20:38Hi everyone.
I have some concerns and questions which I would really like some answers to, if anyone can help.
I have been with my boyfriend for two years now and we are getting to the stage of talking about having children but we are both concerned about what the chances of our child having epilepsy.
So my boyfriend has primary generalized epilspsy. He has had seizures from when he was a little boy. His mother had petit mal but grew out of it and no longer has seizures. Currently my other half takes 100g of lamotrigine twice a day. One in the morning and one in the evening. This controls his seizures and hasn’t had once since taking the medication.
I have no existing medical conditions and have no history of any genetic conditions which could affect my child. But my other half having epilepsy, what are the chances of our child develping it?
Comments
If it really concerns you,
Submitted by Stormi on Tue, 2018-08-28 - 20:41
If it really concerns you, you both could see a genetic counselor. My husband and I did before having our child.
It is genetic, but that doesn
Submitted by Shae97 on Sat, 2018-09-01 - 23:22
It is genetic, but that doesn't mean for sure the baby will have epilepsy too. But since it's the father it is more likely. I'm sure though that if you talk with doctors about it (maybe his epileptologist or neurologist) they will be able to give you more accurate information. And i'm not sure but maybe see if there's some kind of prenatal medicine to help make it less likely for you to pass it on? Not sure if it's a thing, but there's no harm in asking. We're pretty advanced medically so they may have something for it?
If you want a child then talk
Submitted by just_joe on Tue, 2018-08-28 - 12:34
If you want a child then talk and have one. I have epilepsy and so did my cousin. It doesn't run in either of our parents families. If you or he had a heart condition would you be asking about your child inheriting it? What about any other ailments? The chances of your child having it would be rare. Can his neurologists come up with the cause of his epilepsy? Mine was caused by scar tissue in the left lobes of my brain. So that is what caused my epilepsy. Other causes can be tumors or a cell formation that grew wrong. They could find no cause for my cousins epilepsy. In most cases they find no cause.I hope this helps you Joe