What are the chances of birth defects.

[noneya7]

I am pregnant by my first cousin once removed, my mothers first cousin has gotten me pregnant and I would like to know what are the cahnces of my baby having any birth defects

[alviswalter]

It depend on mother health. Some women have a higher chance of having a child with a birth defect. Women over the age of 40 years have a higher chance of having a child with Down syndrome than women who are younger. If taken when a woman is pregnant, certain drugs can increase the chance of birth defects. Also, women who smoke and take alcohol while pregnant have a higher risk of having a baby with certain birth defects. Other women have a higher chance of having a baby with a birth defect because someone in their family had a similar birth defect. It is the amount of folic acid found in most multivitamins.

[amie7]

in a family bloodline, there are many recessive traits that are passed down.  these genes could be related to certain birth defects.  normally, the way these recessive illnesses actually occur is if you happen to have a certain defect like cystic fibrosis(they actually always check moms for this recessive gene), the chances would normally be very low that you would go out into the world and find a man who is also a carrier of cystic fibrosis.  on the very small chance that happens, you have about a 1 in 4 chance that your baby would have cystic fibrosis.  

now in your case, the problem is the blood relation.  since you are related, there is a much higher chance that you and he may be carriers of the same recessive genes.  so if you came together with a disease, there is a higher chance that your baby would actually have the disease to which you bothe were just carriers.  

its not saying cousins make defective babies per se, more like you both may have the same genes for a certain disease.  normally, you could go through you whole life and never meet another man who was a carrier.    sickle cell carriers are healthy, but if two carriers have a baby, the baby has 25% chance of having sickle cell.  the chances of cousins both being carriers is very high compared to two strangers both being carriers.

if there is ANY history of any disease or birth defects in your family history, you should speak to your doctor immediately(matter what, make sure you doctor is aware of the relation) and get referred to a genetics specialist.  

[finallyamommy2003]

Best of luck

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
Unless there is some condition that runs in your family such as cystic fibrosis for example, the chances are pretty low that anything major will be "wrong" with your baby.  Consanguinity (marriage between close relatives )  can lead to an increase in recessive traits such as sickle cell, or Tay Sachs.  
For the most accurate information, I would recommend visiting a genetic counselor.
This person could sit down with you and the baby's father and go through a complete family tree and find out exactly what your risks are for a wide variety of conditions.
If you were my patient, I would NOT recommend that you terminate the pregnancy if you would consider doing so for this reason only.
Good luck!
Dr B

[katsmommy]

hey well i dont know much about this but i have heard that if you are kin by blood the chances of birth defects are high i dont know why but my step great grandparents were cousins they did not know cus in those days they did not blood test but anyways they had like 6 kids and all had something wrong with them not all had something major but my step grandfather had one leg slight shorther then the other, one was crossed eye and so on but your baby may be fine just pray...

[redBlues]

do you wanna have the baby?

if u'd like to keep it,see ur doc. and run some test to determine if the baby has any birth defects

good luck