I have one autistic son and I just found out I'm preg and now I'm worried

[Majikat]

I have a four year old autistic son and today I found out I'm pregnant. Has any one here had a second child after their autistic child? And what was the outcome.

[autiemum]

I have two sons, both on the spectrum, and having one autistic child does in fact increase the likelihood of another.  I know of four families in my older son's therapy program that have more than one autistic child.  You can look up the statistics but I think it's something like a 7% chance versus under one percent for the regular population.  There is very recent research identifying gene markers that are specific to autism, but it's been well established for some time that autism has a genetic component.

That being said in most cases only one child is severely affected (my younger son is much higher functioning than his big brother) and sometimes it's a younger sibling's diagnosis of autism that makes a parent look at an older child's behaviour with new eyes and pursue a diagnosis (often of Asperger's).

Best of luck with the little one - and I know exactly what you're going through - I was six weeks pregnant with my younger son when my older boy was diagnosed.  I don't want to stress you out but you should know the facts.

[Majikat]

Thank you for your input everybody. I'm trying not to stress about it cause I don't want to stress the lil embryo (baby).
Thanks for the replies

[mandy6420]

hi there
my eldest is severely autistic  
and every other one of my 5 kids are normal
good luck with your pregnancy

[allmymarbles]

It does not appear to be an inherited trait.

[KarenDiane]

My 13 year old daughter is autistic. My 11 year old son and 8 year old son are not. In fact, my 11 year old is in the gifted program at school. I'm also pregnant right now with another boy. I was concerned, but my current pregnancy is the first one since my daughters diagnosis. I know what to look for and I'm confident I can deal with whatever I'm given. It is odd though that my daughter is autistic since it is so much more common in boys.