But would you be ok if your child had to go through the psychosis you went through? Or a worse one? Dealing with voices, delusions and the always awful med side effects? Or what if your child was med-resistant? What if they wanted to commit suicide for being born this way?
These are some of the things I think about and ultimately put me off of having kids.
I suppose you could say that there’s not a 100% certainty that they would have schizophrenia. I don’t know what the chances are of passing the condition, but for me, I feel better being safe rather than sorry.
Having said that though, I wouldn’t mind adopting a kid
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You do know that SZ is just one out of a thousand illnesses a child can be born with right?
From perfectly normal parents !!
No one even knows if it is even genetic !
So your argument is kind of invalid ! Its like saying dont have kids, they might have one of the thousands of medical conditions passed down !
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Sounds rough but ultimately rewarding. Part of the reason I don’t want to get old is cuz then I would be alone cuz I’m not planning on having kids ever. I can’t handle a job and raising a family. I just can’t. I barely take care of my cat.
I couldn’t do it. After spending 2 hours with my nieces I’m exhausted.
One of my friend’s grandma had schizophrenia, and her son has it too. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence. But I suppose we could say it’s just an anecdotal case.
I always heard that schizophrenia ran in families. Now, I know you can be the first one of your family to have the condition. That happened to me.
I’ve seen polls where people said they had family members with schizophrenia. Others were the first to have it.
So yeah, I suppose at this stage we can’t be sure of whether you can pass it down. But there are cases
OK So should cancer patients not have kids incase they will be prone to cancer ?
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Theres way fuucking worse out there than SZ !!
It just sounds like a pathetic excuse saying SZ folk cant have children !
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I think the odds are 1:10 of having a sz child when one parent has it
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With cancer I would still have a kid, I guess I would just make sure he would regularly get tested for the particular cancer I had (and also other types) so in case they would have it, it could be caught early and have a better chance of surviving.
But I think in my mind schizophrenia would be easier to pass on than cancer. I may be completely wrong on this one
I agree. I would rather have schizophrenia than cancer, being blind, having a heart attack, having no arms, having a stroke, being quadriplegic, and likely other things
Maybe a chance at life with schizophrenia is better than not having lived at all. And we can still appreciate and enjoy life despite the condition. Perhaps I’m being too strict with my thinking
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A parent passes schizophrenia onto a child 13% of the time. It’s not strong odds, but still scary.
I originally thought I would have biological kids, but then I decided against it. Mr. Star has autism, and if our kid got both of those, I would feel really guilty about it. Also, I couldn’t deal with the med reduction I would have needed in order to have a safe pregnancy. If Mr. Star could carry the kids, maybe we would do biological still.
I do think, I’m really glad my parents had me. They didn’t know I would get schizophrenia, and if they did, they may have made a different choice. But I’m really happy with my life and what I’ve accomplished. I think it’s impossible to predict how a kid is going to turn out. So if you want to have kids, and you can care for them, go for it.
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Yes well I had a daughter and the genes passed on to her. She committed suicide in a mental hospital.
If it’s not genetic how do you explain me a third generation sz or sza? I know I have a number of illnesses in my family I don’t want to pass on. I also feel like I would be a terrible parent.
I feel like this thread is becoming negative. I appreciate @anon39015889 for being supportive of the life that I have chosen. I know that other people think having families is a bad idea for multiple reasons other than passing on a mental illness. That is your choice, too.
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I had only one child and raising him was next to impossible with my sza. And I had plenty of money too. Even with that, it was next to impossible. In the end, I didn’t succeed. He developed sz and committed suicide at the age of 30. Truth.
I think it’s important to remember that we are all different people, and our kids are all different people. Some people will have vastly different experiences than other people. It doesn’t make anyone’s choice wrong. Some people make great parents, and some do not. Having a disability does not determine what kind of parent someone will be, and it does not determine what kind of child they will have.
We’re starting to get dangerously close to eugenics right now, and I’d like to steer the conversation away from that. Genetically, there is a risk. But it’s everyone’s choice whether to have kids or not, provided they are capable of caring for them,
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I am really and truly sorry for those who have lost children to suicide. That is horrible. I meant for this to be supportive of those who have families despite the odds. Please could you lock this thread when you can @Ninjastar
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