I just flipped quickly through the chapter on prescreening for genetic disorders and discovered something I didn’t know. Huntington’s disease is an “autosomal dominant” disorder, which means it only takes one gene being passed down for the child to become a sufferer of the disorder – if one parent is a sufferer, there is a 50% chance that the embryo(s)/child(ren) will be as well.

This is shocking news to me, because my maternal grandfather had Huntington’s. There are 5 children – my mother has two sisters and two brothers. And yes, just a year or two ago one of those brothers started showing signs of Huntington’s – it has now progressed to the point where he cannot drive anymore. Which is further scary because that uncle has two children who recently got married, and one of them has two young children herself now. (Huntington’s is fatal, for anyone who doesn’t know. My “Opa” died when I was very young, I think about 4 years old.)

And I honestly can’t remember if my mom got tested for it. There was some debate a few years ago, I do recall – probably around the same time that my uncle started showing signs. Some of the siblings didn’t want to know if they had it or not, some did. I’d fall squarely in the “wanting to know” camp, because even if it wouldn’t change my outcome, it could change my child’s. And hell, I just want to know what’s coming, I hate being blindsided by things. So I really need to ask my mom about it.