Heredity of Autism

[asking228]

My husband's brother is autistic (his parents had 3 children, the oldest is autistic and the younger two have had no medical problems).  My husband and I are thinking about having children soon and were wondering - does my brother-in-law's autism mean that we are at a greater risk of having an autistic child?  There are no other autistic family member or extended family members that we know of.

[asking228]

Thanks tejodouro - I do not know the details about my brother-in-law's autism except that he is high functioning.  I will ask about it.  

Any other information that helps me to ask a doctor the right questions is greatly appreciated.

[tejodouro]

Yes. Autism runs in some families.  Do you know if your brother in law has autism caused by Fragile X (easy to test via a simple bloss test) ? If so, that type of autism (which is a minority of the cases) is passed to the child by the mother. If he has autism caused by fragile X but you yourself do not carry the fragile X chromosome, you probably will not have a child with autism.  You need to see a genetic specialist.  Do your research and go ask the questions.  

[KarenDiane]

My oldest child is autistic and we recently found out that my father has 2 cousins (not siblings) who are autistic.

[Sarsar133]

Autism can be hereditary, so you are at greater risk for passing it down unfortunately.  There are a few mental disorders in my family, Autism mostly.  My brother has it.