I am 11 weeks pregnant and just recieved a call saying my Factor X test was abnormal. Being a nurse, I immediately thought about a blood clotting disorder but the NP at my OBGYN's office started talking about mental retardation and having my siblings checked. Has anyone gone through this or know of anyone who has. I am planning on going to genetic counseling but until I get an appointment the unknown is kind of killing me.
I think they may have said Fragile X. It is a gene that you must carry. This does not mean the baby has Fragile X. I think its too soon to know if the baby has it or not. It does cause mental retardation but you need to see a counselor because I don't know if the father has to carry the gene as well for it to show itself in the baby.
I think there was an article in Time or Newsweek about it a little while ago. It is definitely genetic & can affect several members of the family. I remember something about the number of repetitions of a certain mutation affecting how bad the outcome. Some people have it & are just fine others have learning disabilities & for some it doesn't affect them until old age. Good luck
My guess is that they are referring to "Fragile X". I also had "abnormal" results for this and googled it and went into a tizzy. So - take a deep breath first! Abnormal can mean a lot of things, in my case it was that I was on the high side of what is considered normal - but we had to go see a genetic counselor anyway. Our son is 11 months old and doing fine, if that makes you feel better. There is a website devoted to this :
http://www.fragilex.org/html/home.shtml
Do be cautions though, because reading all the info before you know more about your results might really make you more stressed out.
I have not gone through this personally but I work in the field with individuals with developmental disabilities. What they are referring to is Fragile X syndrome. It can cause Mental Retardation or Autism. You can also have it and not have mental retardation. Usually it causes MR in males because they only have one X chromosome, where as females have two. It is genetic so that is why they are saying to have your siblings checked. Your doctor should not just leave you out there like this with no further counseling on what this is and how it can impact you and your child. Here is the basic website www.fraxa.org but I would recommend speaking further to your doctor as well. Best of luck.
I have a good friend whose sister tested positive for Fragile X. She has a healthy daughter and is pregnent with a second daughter and due to give birth this week. From what I have been told, there is only a need to worry if your baby is a boy. A boy with Fragile X may have mental retardation or autistic-like symptoms. I wish you the best of luck!
