If I am related to my girlfriend in such a way that both her great-grandfather and my great-grandmother are siblings, can our children be mentally disabled? Will they be sick? What's the probability of this? What is the risk of this?
Based on the data from the medical literature, a relationship of the third degree (e.g. between a cousin) or closer is considered significant from a practical point of view. During genetic counseling, a pedigree tree is drawn up, illustrating the exact degree of relationship between the partners.
It is important, among others whether within the family, even more distant, there were no more relationships between relatives. Information is also collected on the presence of genetically determined diseases in the family and various medical problems.
Based on a family history, a specialist in clinical genetics assesses the probability of the occurrence of genetic diseases in the offspring of a given pair, primarily those conditioned in an autosomal recessive manner (i.e. those that are revealed only when the child has a defective copy of a given gene will inherit from both the father and the mother who are he althy carriers of the mutation on only one of the two copies of the genes - the second copy is correct).
For the reasons mentioned above, it is not possible to provide reliable on-line genetic advice, a personal visit to the clinic is necessary.
Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.
Krystyna SpodarKrystyna Spodar - specialist in the field of clinical genetics at NZOZ Genomed, ul. Ponczowa 12, 02-971 Warsaw, www.nzoz.genomed.pl, e-mail: [email protected]
The expert answers questions about genetic diseases and congenital malformations, inheritance, and prenatal diagnosis.
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