[Em2528]

,,

[IamMom]

I am not dealing with this sort of problem, but any fertility problem is hard and it sucks. Thoughts and prayers are with you in dealing with this problem and I am very sorry for your losses Erika. This is a great group of ladies and we are always here if you wanna share feelings, vent, or chat.
~Keri

Hey Erika!
I know I have mentioned this blog before, but I like it a lot and her husband has a balanced translocation. Maybe try emailing her? She is really very sweet. I think she had her first naturally (and he is a super smart kiddo), and then had 11 losses (I think) trying to conceive their next child, which ended up being twins. They did IVF with PGD I think, to conceive the twins, and that cycle started around April of 2007 if you wanted to see her archives about that. I linked to her post about balanced translocations below.

http://julia.typepad.com/julia/2005/...ed_transl.html

[*JenJen*]

Hey Erika. I was going to suggest the same blog that Michelle did. *hugs* to you sweetie

[ShannonMVT]

((hugs)) I am so sorry for your losses.

There is a woman here on JM whose Dh has a balanced translocation. Her username is beck12, her name is Beckie and she is the sweetest person. I know she would LOVE to talk to you. She had 3 losses (one of them was twins) and then had her son.

Please PM her or stop by the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss board, I know you could get a lot of support there, especially from Beckie.

Also from what I've heard the only way to "treat" this is what the other ladies have mentioned, IVF with PGD.

[Em2528]

Thank you girls all so much for responding to this post, I am going to check out the blog mentioned above and see if she and I can e-mail. Thanks!!

[Mjp121212]

I too was going to suggest the IVF mentioned above. So sorry about your losses. I do know what that is just from a biology background, but I've never been affected by it. So sorry again!

[beck12]

Hey Erica - Shannon pointed me in your direction & I thought I would stop by to say hello. My Dh has a balanced translocation and I am pretty familiar with teh Dx and the treatment as well as what a difficult diagnosis it can be. We were told we had a 60% chance of going full term - but that was not an easy thing for for me swallow after having 3 pg's that ended in mc back to back. I am still not certain that those numbers are correct...but i am sure they have a system for how they determine those percentages....

Anyway - my email is curlyhead72@hotmail.com. Feel free to write me anytime & maybe we can chat on IM too if you want. I know it is tough to keep trying & I know it can get very disheartening. I host the board for recurrent pg loss & you are welcome to post there as well. We have another member that also has a balanced translocation - but in her case she is the one that has it, not Dh. She has one DD now & is pg with what looks like a healthy baby right now & she never did the IVF - neither did I..... The ladies at RPL have lots of info on many things related to recurrent loss & are very supportive if you decide to drop in & see what they might be able to offer in that regard.

I wish you all the best & hope I can be of any help!
Much love!

[kthomasy]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site. First let me just say my heart and prayers go out to you regarding your frustrations with fertility and losses of babies. I cannot imagine what you have had to go through.

I'm the mother of two boys, ages 5 and 3, and expecting another baby next April, a girl. We were not trying for a girl, just looking to add another family member to our clan. I've been hit with nothing but adversity from people I meet and family regarding our "choosing" to have three children. We love kids.
Doing my best to ignore people such as this, keep my sense of humor, and trust in God with the decisions we make in our lives.


We recently found out via amniocentesis that our next child-to-be has a balanced translocation of
46XX, t(3;12) (p25;p13.3). The only thing I've been told from my OB is a piece (breakpoint) from C3 and C12 broke off and merely switched places. I don't even know WHAT genes, if it is possible to find out, these chromosomes are responsible for either. The place where the testing was conducted couldn't tell me much, just that it is an "apparent" translocation. Still waiting to talk with a geneticist to see if there are any possible microdeletions or microduplication. My husband and I immediately went in for blood tests to see if either of us were carriers of a translocation. The tests came back normal. Don't know what I would have done if I'd 'unknowingly' passed on something to my unborn child. My OB doesn't seem to be concerned at all as his biggest worries due to my maternal age was down syndrome. Personally, and not to sound ungrateful for this pregnancy, I don't think it is fair for my doctor to tell me it is nothing to worry about. He has NO CLUE, and has admitted this to me, WHAT the ramifications, if any, will be. Sorry, but I think having a child who may or may not have trouble having children in the future is an issue. Well, that is, if my child wants to be a mom herself.

Please do not get me wrong, I am not saying having a child who is "less than normal" wouldn't be loved in my household. After all, what IS normal, anyways? Sure, mental and physical disabilities are not things we pray will plague our childrens lives. I'm certain you all will know what I mean. Although it is comforting to hear of others who have had similar translocations leading healthy, normal lives, again, I am not looking forward to telling our daughter someday that she may have trouble having a family of her own in the future. Sounds like it could be a hit or miss situation. Heaven knows, maybe both my boys have translocations and we don't even know it. Maybe this 'de novo' circumstance we currently face has happened to my other children--never had amnios done during those pregnancies. Sorry if I'm getting off track here...just needing to talk, vent, and trying not to be too hormonal. Haven't said a word about this to immediate family as per our past experience, they would SURELY scrutinize this child-to-be once she comes into the world, forever looking at her and just WAITING to see what could or couldn't go wrong with her, physically, mentally and more. Can't BEGIN to tell you all how much we enjoy that...My own mother and sister constantly 'analyze' my kids when we get together for visits, seeing and even testing them and their behavior. My two boys have had speech delay, with my first son being much more involved. Not apraxia, just developmentally delayed to some degree. The last time we visited with my sister, I merely thought what was her spending time with my boys and reading to them was quality time. No. She was testing them (she is a teacher of young children and a reading tutor). God love her for wanting to help in her own way, but, sometimes it is a bit upseting how "know-it-all" she can be. I just thought it would be fun for her to play with the kids and certainly wasn't expecting a big email after our visit on all the issues and problems she felt my boys possess. Whatever.

Thanks for listening, ladies. If anyone has any food for thought on my situation or has had a baby born with a balanced translocation I'd be interested to hear about it. All the best to everyone during their pregnancies and here's wishing you a wonderful holiday season. Sorry if this didn't really relate to the rest of the postings. I'm just anxious and trying very hard to not worry and enjoy the blessing of this pregnancy.

I am TTC my 1st, so I have no idea about any of that. But I do want to add something. I was born 3 months early, and my parents were told I would be blind and deaf. I went to the United Cerebral Palsy Children's Center for Pre-K and a "regular" class, and my grandpa didn't want the "little bus" in front of the house because the neighbors would think something "was wrong with me".

There are several health issues in my life, but through years of therapies I am pretty much "normal". My CP is not noticable most days. My grandmother died when I was 13, and my mother never told me how she had told lies about my health issues and surgeries to "keep the family name", but had I known, I wouldn't have spoken to her.

I just want you to know that families can suck sometimes, and regardless of what they say or think, your child WILL be special and lovable. Don't let them depress you. Are they God? If the translocations DO cause problems with your daughter's ability to TTC, she already has many options.. Who knows what will be available in 20-some years?

[tlashmore]

Hi. I was just googling "balanced translocation" and came across your post and joined this forum to respond to you. My daughter, who will be 10 in April, was diagnosed with a Balanced Translocation when she was almost 5. She is a happy, sweet girl, and is in the 3rd grade (mainstreamed). She was presenting with some learning difficulties in PreK, so we had her tested (not really knowing what all they were testing) and found out about the Translocation. It is also de novo. It all seemed overwhelming at the time. Plus (and maybe it was a good thing) I didn't have a computer at the time, so I wasn't able to access much information on it (on the other hand, I wasn't driving myself crazy looking for information!). We were very fortunate, as where her breakpoint occurred (46xxt(2;7)(p21;p13)), there are some serious, identified medical issues, of which she has escaped them all. She is considered a "slow learner" (not MR), but is high functioning, and they can not attribute her learning delays to her Translocation. By looking at her, you would never know that she has this, or any issues for that matter. We didn't have a high-level ultrasounds for her, but did for our other two children and everything was fine with them. They have not been tested, however. I do think her learning delays are a result of the translocation (and her Genetic Counselor said it most likely is attributed to it), but the Genetic Dr. cannot "officially" say that. She has no behavioural problems, either.

I, too, worry about her ability to conceive one day and the pain that may cause her. I've had too many friends that have struggled with infertility and have seen the pain it can cause.
I do agree that technology is changing so quickly, that who knows what will be available. I keep telling myself that. But still, it's hard not to worry about it.

I've just stayed in touch with our Genetics Counselor on an annual basis to see if there is any new information available (we live in Houston and have a fantastic medical center here). They are willing to tell us about studies that may be available. Technology is changing so quickly that there have been 7 new microrray analysis tests since she was originally tested in 2004. We had her retested last year, and they did not find any additional microdeletions or microduplications. I'd be lying if I said I never worry about it, and have simply turned it over to God. That is why I am typing this now, because I was once again looking on-line to see if there is any new bit of information that I can grasp on to to let me know what my daughters outlook is going to be. But generally, it is on the back burner, and I don't think about it. I'll go back to my normal routine in a few minutes and trust in God. She is a happy, healthy girl today and hope she continues to be! Good luck with your pregnancy, and I love having three kids and couldn't imagine it any other way!