If Bipolar Disorder Is In My Family, Should I Consider Not Having Children?

— -- Question: If bipolar disorder is in my family, should I consider not having children?

Answer: So whether or not to have children is a very personal decision and it depends on a whole host of other factors besides whether or not you have bipolar disorder. Now clearly bipolar disorder is genetic, but it's not 100 percent. In other words it doesn't mean that for sure your child will have it. In fact, there are many parents who have bipolar disorder and their children never do get bipolar disorder. Having said that there are many parents who have bipolar disorder and all their children have some form or some shape of bipolar disorder.

Now it's important to remember though that just because you have bipolar disorder doesn't mean you can't have a wonderful life and a great outcome. There are many very famous, high-achieving people who are in business and the entertainment industry who all have bipolar disorder. So there is a possibility of a great outcome. Having said that there's also often a lot of morbidity, mortality associated with this disorder and so it is something to consider. It's a little premature though to be talking about whether or not to have children because we don't have any way of predicting whether or not the offspring will have the disorder at this time.

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