To think that taking Sertraline when pregnant caused my son's ASD?

I didn't take anti depressants but I have an autistic child with very complex needs and very behind his peers.

I do see signs of neurodiversity and sensory processing disorder in myself, though not to the same extent.

I did also however let me pregnancy extend past 43 weeks because I was afraid of being induced. My child was also deprived of oxygen for a few minutes after birth. I wonder if those things might be a cause. I understand the mum guilt.

Two autistic children. No ADs.

However there is ASD in both of our wider families.

My son is autistic and I didn’t take any medication when pregnant. Please don’t blame yourself.

I have never taken anti depressants.

I have 3 diagnosed children, I am diagnosed, DH is waiting for assessment. His older 2 DC are diagnosed. My Dad ticks every box but is in his 70s and doesn't really understand - he has however needed a lot of support throughout his life. My mother is definitely ND, her mother is almost certainly autistic.

Genetics, not medicine.

I don’t know about sertraline, but ASD isn’t wholly genetic. There is research that shows women who took progesterone in pregnancy have more children with ASD.

My DD is autistic, and I have never ever been on any ADs. Autism is genetic.

Yes and yes, though I stopped taking it cold turkey at about 5 or 6 weeks (once I knew I was pregnant - it was unplanned).

My other child likely has ADHD and possibly ASD and I didn't take any ADs, sertraline or otherwise, during that pregnancy.

That said, I am probably ND myself, which is what caused me to have MH issues in the first place (or rather the lack of support/understanding for that).

I'm autistic, so was my sister, and many of my relations.

Three of my four children are autistic.

It's genetic, OP.

My Dd is ASD and I’m with you. I took anti depressants in pregnancy. I think there is stuff on them causing ND.

Op, I didn’t want to not post as although I wasn’t on anti depressants, I was on a high dose of labetalol in my pregnancy. My little one likely has adhd, not formally diagnosed but it was suggested by nursery and she is on a list now to be reviewed. Regardless she has been put down as needing extra help to be included in nursery. I often felt guilty that the meds I took might have contributed to the trouble she is having in there. But I just want to say, and I know you are more asking for experiences than this, but it’s quite common regardless of medications and like me, you needed your medication to have as healthy a pregnancy as possible and did what was best for baby at the time, which was having as healthy a mum as possible. I just wanted to say this as I know the niggling thoughts myself and I know with mine came guilt but I struggled to be fair to myself about it. I’m sure more people will come on with specific experiences of anti depressants in pregnancy.

2 of my 3 children are autistic. I didn't take meds in pregnancy. I am however neurodiverse...

My son is autistic and I didn’t take anti-depressants while pregnant.
please don’t blame yourself for anything you did/didn’t do.
its more likely there is a genetic link from yourself or your child’s father.
previous poster has said it much better than me!

Agree. There is no association between sertraline and ASD.
Please don't blame yourself.

ASD is genetic. There is no link between ASD and antidepressants. ASD has always existed as part of normal variation in human neurology- even when we were cavemen. It’s just at the end of the bell curve where neurotypical people are in the middle.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/neurodevelopmental-disorders-and-neurodiversity-definition-of-terms-from-scotlands-national-autism-implementation-team/C6582CFF0E5E00F2F0F38F294A6659D1