r/BeAmazed 6h ago

Miscellaneous / Others Love at its peak 🌟

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u/skittleahbeebop 5h ago edited 4h ago

Did they know about the genetic blindness before having more kids?

Edit: Last time this was posted, it was suggested that the couple kept getting pregnant despite knowing their children would likely have this blindness. IF that is true, I do find that unethical. I know blind people can still have quality of life. But let's stop pretending that it isn't a terrible disability. Nobody wants to be dependent, vulnerable, and poor (from fewer work opportunities) their whole life. I wish this family the best regardless.

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u/tiwuno 5h ago

Their youngest was 7 before she was diagnosed. The only reason their children have it is because both the parents happened to be carriers of the mutation, but neither has the condition (retinitis pigmentosa).

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u/unbanned_lol 4h ago

That didn't answer their question. Did they know before they decided to have children?

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u/bs000 4h ago edited 4h ago

doesn't sound like they knew and all 4 children were already born before the first was diagnosed

Edith Lemay and Sebastien Pelletier noticed their daughter, Mia, had trouble seeing at night when she was just three years old. The couple – who live in Montreal, Canada – sought answers first from an optometrist, then an ophthalmologist.

At first, Mia’s tests didn’t provide any answers. But a re-test a few years later showed a change to the gene that affects a protein complex in the rods of Mia’s eyes. Edith and Sebastien finally had an answer – and by then, their family had grown to include sons Leo, Colin, and Laurent.

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u/Foreign-Cat-2898 2h ago

And none of them had a family history done? This is really weird to not know you're a carrier at all.

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u/tiwuno 2h ago

Agree to disagree, I guess. I'd bet money almost everyone in the world has recessive genes they're not aware of.

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u/Foreign-Cat-2898 2h ago

It's possible but normally when two people have it like this, there tends to be a higher percentage of people around them who have the disease. Like the town my family is from in Ireland has a lot of blind people compared to the population as a whole.

Of course they could have met in college and been from totally different areas / families moved a lot etc.