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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
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Inherited Disorders and Birth Defects |
THE CHANCES OF MY CHILD HAVING CLEFT LIP02/23/2000 |
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF MY CHILD HAVING A BILATERAL CLEFT LIP AND PALATE IF I HAVE ONE. IT RUNS IN MY FAMILY FIVE GENERATIONS BACK AND THE CASE WAS MILD-ONLY A MISSING PALATE
As I mentioned in an early response to this question, isolated cleft lip and/or cleft palate - that is when there are no other birth defects present - is due to a combination of genetics and environmental factors. The chance it could happen again is based on many factors including the number of affected persons in your family, the closeness (blood relation) of affected relatives, your race, your sex and the severity of the clefts.There are many genetic syndromes that have cleft lip and/or cleft palate as part of the syndrome. The chance of passing on the abnormalitiy in this case would depend on what syndrome the person had. Also, there is a type of cleft lip and palate that can be inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder. This is due to a change in a specific gene that causes cleft lip and palate. In these families, you may see the disorder in several generations and it can be variable - meaning more severe in one person and less severe in another person. If you have the gene, then there would be a 50% chance of passing the gene on to any of your children. A specific diagnosis would need to be made to see if you have the isolated type of cleft lip and palate or one due to a dominant gene. The best person to provide this information would be a geneticist or genetic counselor - they could look at your family history and other factors to tell you what chance your children may have of also being born with a cleft lip and palate.
You can ask your doctor for a referral or contact the National Society of Genetic Counselors below to find a genetics center near you.
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Anne Matthews, RN, PhD Director, Genetic Counseling and Family Studies Associate Professor Department of Genetics School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University |
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