View Full Version : If you had planned on more children...
... if you had planned on more children and discovered you had a degenerative or progressively developing medical condition which would worsen with age what would you do?
Would you continue with the plans you'd already made in the same time frame?
Would you decide not to have anymore children? (or limit the number extra you'd planned?)
Would you move forward your plans (example- planned next child for 2-3 years time, would you move TTC forward to now?)
Tamika
09-19-2008, 10:21 AM
I would not have any more and just enjoy the time I had left with the babies I'd already made! I'd give them the best of me for whatever time there was.
freebiemom
09-19-2008, 10:29 AM
I agree with Tamika. I would love to have more but I would also not want to cheat the kids I have now out of the best of me so I think we'd not have anymore children.
MathSpeak
09-19-2008, 03:02 PM
I wouldn't change anything... I would keep having my babies. The reason I say this is that we're all living on borrowed time... whether it's been diagnosed or not. A day is a day. I don't think spending a day with my children today should be any different than if someone told me I was only going to live for two more days. And, I don't think having subsequent children robs the current ones of anything more in that situation than any other.
I think it depends on what the outlook was. I would probably not have more children because I would be worried about the toll pregnancy and childbirth would take on my body. I would also want to know if the disease was genetic. If it was, I would definitely not have more children because I wouldn't want to take the chance of knowingly passing it on.
Polly
09-20-2008, 07:33 AM
This was the reason I hated the Julia Roberts character in Steel Magnolias. She knew she should not have children and went ahead and got pregnant, her body couldn't take it, and died. Selfish.
It depends on the nature of the disease. If you are like Elizabeth Edwards, don't have more kids. It's not fair to them. But if it is mangable, fine.
EngineerMom
03-24-2009, 10:41 AM
Diabetes is a degenerative disease and there is a genetic component, yet people continue to have children after being diagnosed.
It would depend on the disease for me. I would most likely continue with my family plans if the prognosis was measured in years or decades. If it was measured in months or just a few years, I would concentrate strongly on spending as much time as possible with my family.
EngineerMom
03-24-2009, 10:42 AM
On a side note, it is possible to have a healthy pregnancy with Type I or Type II diabetes, but it requires rigorous blood sugar maintenance.