I found out last year that I am BRCA1 positive. I'm generally ok with knowing this as both my mum and grandmother passed away with breast cancer so I feel that I am forearmed knowing that whilst it's not guaranteed, I have a high chance of being diagnosed with it too.
I am not sure what to do with regards to having children, I am not comfortable with the 50% chance of passing on the gene mutation and considering IVF for this reason, however during the BRCA testing counselling it sounded like not many people go for this as an option and they "take their chances" so to speak, with technological advances being cited as the reason and that who knows how cancer will be treated in the future. Is this really the case that people think this? As the child wouldn't get tested until they're 18, I think I'd find it stressful to not know for all that time, and if they did have the mutation, I would probably be wracked with guilt, not to mention how any future child with the mutation may feel about it, whilst knowing I knew there was a chance I could have passed it on at the time of their conception. I also feel that there were 35 years between my grandmother having cancer and yet my mum still died relatively young because of it despite treatment coming on leaps and bounds, so hoping for a miracle cure once the gene mutation is within your body just doesn't like something that is going to be overcome.
I'd be really interested to hear from others with the BRCA gene mutation to try and better inform myself of the options.