Aspergers

[AmyLouise222]

My husband has aspergers syndrome and he is worried that this will affect our conception and if it is genetic or not. Can anyone shed some light on this for us??

Sorry no idea but I would think that it may affect them just as personality traits in general are passed down to children from parents.

Aspergers is genetic. I come from the Aspergers family :) I see people with Aspergers as people who are talented with numbers/memory etc.

To my understanding most people sit on the autism spectrum and the age at which something acts as a trigger determines what kind (if any) of autism we get and as such is an environmental rather than genetic thing.

We (I have OCD) can be triggered by something that would leave another person unaffected so it's really something you can't worry about (or feel guilty about as a parent - I've traced back my trigger in therapy and I 100% don't blame my parents).

It is genetic, yes, but of complex inheritance, your child will have more chance of being born with an ASD than a child of neuro typical parents but it is not a given that they will have an ASD. There have been many twin studies for example where one twin is on the spectrum and one isn't. I think it would be sensible to prepare for an autistic child so that you have covered all scenarios. I don't see it as a negative though, I have some fab friends and colleagues who are on the spectrum and wouldn't change it for the world and would guess that you and your husband would be very loving and understanding parents who would make sure the child has the support they needed.

What others say (yes, there is a genetic link) but there are heaps of potential factors eg maternal and paternal age, experience of baby in the womb and out. A little digging round for info should give you a pretty clear idea of the exact factors. Good luck

Yes, it's certainly genetic IMO. A number of people in my family it. Like others, if we could erase it, we wouldn't.