Mother in law has CMT - should we have genetic tests?

[sunflower000]

Hi everyone,

Recently discovered that my MIL has CMT, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, it's a hereditary disease that effects nerves and in turn muscles (mainly in feet/hands and back). Always new she had a heath problem with her muscles in her feet but DH didn't know what it was called. I asked her the other day and have now done a little research on it.

DH and I were hoping to start trying for a baby next year ( I have a daughter from a previous relationship) but now I'm wondering if we should have genetic testing first to find out if DH carries the faulty gene.

Has anyone had CMT tests pre-trying for a baby? Does anyone have children with CMT? I'm just trying to work out if DH does have the gene and we have 50/50 odds of having a child with CMT, if they will be severely effected?

I have an autoimmune disease myself, ankylosing spondylitis, (not hereditary) but it can be pretty debilitating at times and am reluctant to have another child if they could struggle with this condition.

Thanks in advance

I think this is quite complicated as it will depend exactly on what form of CMT your MIL has and whether your husband has the gene. Testing would have implications for DH in terms of future planning and health insurance etc... It's probably worth asking your GP for a referral to a clinical genetics service who can talk you both through the pros and cons of testing and work out how best to test.
Good luck.

As previous poster said, there are many types of CMT with different inheritance patterns, and the risk for your baby (if any) would depend on what exactly your MIL has. I second the advice for a referral.