Balance Translocation

sarahcmccurdy

My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for the past 2 years. We succeeded only a couple of months of trying and the day I hit 6weeks we miscarried. After my second miscarriage which sadly landed on my 30th birthday, my doctor insisted on blood and chromosome tests for both me and my husband. We discovered that my husband has 2 chromosomes 20 - 22 that are broken and swtched, this is called a balanced translocation. We learned that these two chromosome are two of the main ones that develop in the early stages of pregnancy. While the baby is developing in the first few weeks if she/he develops the same chromosomes my body senses something's wrong and will abort the baby. Reading up on balance translocation we learned that some women have had up to 8 miscarriages before succeeding. Our doctor told us that we can have a healthy pregnancy we just have to be patient and keep trying. Shortly after we learned this information we found out we were pregnant, I believe due to stress and the loss of my father-in-law we miscarried at 4weeks. Now three months later we just discovered we are pregnant again this will be our fourth pregnancy and I am now at 5weeks. I feel numb about the situation and I feel like I can't be excited until after we hit the 6weeks mark. I hear that balance translocation is more common than we thought, I personally have never heard of it until the doctor said that my husband had it. If anyone else shares this then the support that we need from each other is important. The loss of the baby no matter how old or young doesn't make it any easier to either one of the parents. I would like to think that my husband and I have a good attitude about things but sometimes it's really hard to stay positive when you don't know if you're going to miscarry or if this or the next one will stick. I pray that this little Appleseed will stay with us and I will continue to learn and try to support others that have a balance translocation this is a support group so let's support each other. Tell me your story...

KateLouise

Hi there,

I don't have this situation, I just wanted to say that my thoughts are with you. I can imagine the waiting is the worst.

I've experienced a loss, and even with just one loss, I'm finding the waiting to get to a "safe" point in the pregnancy is awful.

I also wanted to say that if your screen name is your full name then you might want to think about changing it to something more anonymous. There are some crazy people out there, and it's best not to make yourself vulnerable to them.

lunde181

Hi! I also have a balanced translocation of my 5th and 6th chromosomes. My mom also has it, which is why I got tested. I'm currently 6 weeks pregnant with my first and am feeling the same anxiety you are. The good news is, and I keep telling myself this, is that there is just as much of a chance that everything is RIGHT as there is that something is wrong. Unfortunately, it's a coin flip every time, but you will win it eventually. My mom's first pregnancy was me and it was completely fine, then she suffered 4 miscarriages, and then had a healthy pregnancy with my sister. The way she put it to me was, you will definitely have babies, you just might have to work a little harder for them and they are 100% worth it.

Keep staying positive!

przemosbabe

I am so sorry I truly am. I can't imagine the pain you have experienced and the pain and fear you are having now, I can't personally relate to your situation but I do have a friend from the infertilty board who's husband also has a balanced translocator. You will be in my thoughts and prayers tonight. After you have this baby, if you want to have another child without having to go through the heartache of miscarriage, the answer would be to do IVF and get ccs testing on your embryos. That way you will know for sure that you are only transferring genetically normal embryos to your uterus and you won't have to go through this. You poor thing. My heart is heavy for you.

mandyloutoo

We aren't dealing with a balanced translocation but we had karyotyping done and mine came back with some abnormalities. I am mosiac for Turners Syndrome and TripleX. I don't "have" these things and you can't even say I'm a carrier since it's mosiac but it's there.  I've had 2 healthy children and 4-5 miscarraiges. I'm 8weeks pregnant now too. Basically just what the other posters said...you WILL get a baby. You may just have to work harder for it. It's like playing roulette a bit. And yes, the heartache will be worth it. I deal with all the same anxieties you have. Seeing a HB soon will be very reassuring for you, hopefully:)