I've have diabetes type 1 for ten years and I have retinopathy. I'm want to start a family and I'm not sure that's a good idea. Is it okay to have type 1 with retinopathy and get pregnant? Do you think this is a good idea or not? I'm not just worried about my vision getting worse but how this will affect my baby. I think about passing this on to my child. I don't know if I want to do that or not. On the one hand I think of myself and wanting to have a child and on the other I think about what my disease may do to the child. Will I be passing on bad genes to my child causing problems for my child and any children my child might have? I'm just so confused I don't know what to do. Is there anyone out there that has been through this and could give me some advice that might comfort me? There are so many things to think about I don't know where to start. Anyone, anyone at all, do you have information that can help me. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks
If you have type 1 there are two things you need to consider when trying to get pregnant. You can pass the genes for type 1 to your child and their offspring. Retinopathy can be induced by pregnancy in a diabetic which of course can lead to blindness, however you already have retinopathy which has a great chance of getting worse. Today, many women who are diabetic have healthy babies. Diabetic medications are available and general medical monitoring is quite advanced making all that possible. Ultimately, whether you will have to make that decision on your own. You need to determine your personal risk and what might happen to the child. These are indeed personal choices and only you can make them.
Beyond you personal risk which possible means blindness due to you retinopathy, what about passing your disease to your child. Beyond that, how would you manage dealing with this consequence. These are difficult questions and there are no easy answers to them. You want a child and at the same time you want the best for your child. It's like a Catch 22.
Remember, you already have retinopathy. Chances are that will get worse and blindness may set in. How will you take care of your child if you are blind. There are a lot of unknowns here and very difficult if impossible to predict the outcome. I had a friend who wanted to start a family, however it was known that autism ran in the family. She decided to get pregnant anyway. Her first child was fine but second had autism. Its a real gamble. You just don't know. You can try to be sensible about it or you can go where your heart tells you. It's up to you.