UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I have keratoconus - I wear contact lenses and my sight is overall pretty good, my consultant has suggested I will need to have a transplant one day.

I'm a married man no children and it's because of me I had told my wife we shouldn't have kids because I'd hate to give this to them.

So the question is

If we have a child will my son/daughter have this keratoconus or have bad eyesight - my wifes eyes are perfect.

should I want to have the transplant and then start a family which or doesn't it matter

I always wanted to be a dad and my wife wants to be a mum but I'm just worried as I'd hate to see my child suffer knowing I created them with this problem.

Thanks

The chances of your child having KC are pretty small. Not sure what the stats for direct transmission from parent to child are, but overall, only around 13% of people with KC in this country have anyone else in the family with the condition (that would include having aunts, uncles, cousins etc). And genetic studies have always struggled to find enough families with more than one generation affected. The evidence seems to be that several different genes have to come together before KC will occur. So while it's possible for someone with KC to have a child with the condition, it's much more likely that any children will be free of it. The other thing to bear in mind is that there has been a lot of progress in research and management of KC just in the last 10 years or so. So who knows what the wonders of science might bring in the next 10 years which might mean KC being much less of an issue for future generations. There are lots of KC people on this forum who have children, including a few who do have a child diagnosed with it, so hopefully they can tell you how they approached the decision you're facing.
All the best
Anne

thank you - I'm a married man - my wife and I always wanted a child and I'm just frightened to pass on a illness that would
give my child the problems I've endured.

I remember asking my doctor and he said the same thing but - it's scary and it'll always be on my mind - has my child got KC

Thanks for your valuable time.

God Bless

I know your thoughts are noble, but ultimately I think you're looking at this the wrong way. Would you choose to not have been born because you've had to live with an eye condition that, for all its difficulties, is ultimately much more manageable than a great many of the diseases out there?

Besides, you know exactly what to look out for when it comes to KC. If your child's eyeglass prescription were to change swiftly, you'd be getting them a topography scan before the optician even had time to think it was weird - at least, I know I would. By the time your child is a teenager, treatments like crosslinking will have twice as much research data backing them as they do now. And if they don't, there's every possibility of alternative procedures having been developed. Vigilance coupled with early intervention could effectively stop them ever getting symptoms.

But the most important point is that direct transmission is rather rare. Though, to answer your question, your wife's eyes being perfect isn't a guarantee that they won't inherit. Genetics are little more complex than that.