Passing on Bipolar to a child

My husband has been diagnosed with Bipolar I.  Both my mother and my brother have Bipolar II.  I am 35 and have not been diagnosed with any form of the disorder. If my husband and I were to have a child, what is the likelihood that child would present with a Bipolar disorder?  We have been considering having a child for awhile but I would feel selfish to pass this disorder onto my child.  Thank you for your input.

[Jordanna Joaquina, MS, CGC]

Bipolar disease and mental illness in general are multifactorial conditions, which means they involve a combination of genetic and non-genetic factors. The recurrence risk for mental illness in a family is complex and depends on multiple factors such as the total number of affected people in a family (this can include people with different types of mental illness) as well as the degree of relatedness of affected individuals (first degree, second, etc).

We recommend that you and your spouse meet with a genetic counselor who can review your personal and family histories and provide a more accurate risk assessment. You can find a genetic counselor at the National Society of Genetic Counselors website or through companies like mine, AccessDNA.