Carol,

I appreciate your opinion about having children but I respectfully have a very
different opinion. My mother knew she was at risk when she gave birth to me.
I'm 30 and have lived a wonderful life so far. I'm certainly glad (along with
other's) that I am alive today. There are no guarantees in life. If your neg,
and have children, who's not to say they will not get leukemia, be born with
Down syndrom. Why do we have children? do you know HOW many things are passed
on genetically? Heart Disease, mental illness.....the horrible suffering
effects of cancer.......these are ALL things we MAY pass to our children. My
husband watched his mother suffer on a bed riddled with brain
cancer......dwindling away......taking her last breath with guess what........a
smile. She loved life. She changed so many lives that there was a line of
people down the street at her funeral..........hundreds of people. All because
she was a Christian woman, who's goal in life was to reach out to others,
changing this world into a better place, DESPITE her cancer.......which she
inherited from her father. She only lived 50+ years on this earth.

I don't think those of us that have had children have had our heads in the sand
like an ostrich. That implies that we are not facing this disease. I can assure
you......I'm facing it. I'm facing it head on with a hopeful
additude.......that I'm going to embrace life.....the time we have and I'm
hopeful there will be a cure...... We haven't contributed to this Disease,
we're LIVING thru it. I can only assume you don't have children because if you
did, you'd probably realize that it's not something you give birth to and then
watch it deteriorate from whatever illness is will EVENTUALLY aquire whether
it's HD or anything else I listed. No, you love, guide and nurture these
children to use their lives to better this world.

No, this disease would not continue if "we" didn't keep reproducing but guess
what, if HD was wiped off the planet.....guess what? We'd ALL ......every last
one of us will die of SOMETHING....and I can assure you most of us won't
gleefully go in our sleep one night when we're 99. THat's having your head in
the sand. I think for those of us that have or are having children are living
our lives as best as we can. What are we to do......round up all the at
riskers out there and put us in a camp so we all just die off so we don't
"infect" anyone else?????

Really, the implication that those of us that are AT RISK and have kids are not
being responsible for our actions . That's not so. No. Sorry, you can either
live with this disease or allow yourself to BECOME this disease. Not
me.........I'm making a difference in whatever time I have left and I'm raising
my kids to do the same. Life isn't about your medical history, your DNA
chart......or an illness. Life is given one day at a time. THankfully, I may
have many left and I'm using them as best as I can to make a difference. I live
as tomorrow may be my last by taking the time to better my little world. Life
is what you make it. What we should be concentrating on is helping eachother
get thru dealing with this disease. We're all in the same boat one way or
another and I can assure you if it wasn't the HD boat it would be something
else.

Thanks for listening to me ramble! April
----- Original Message -----
From: mitchpalm@...
To: onebighuntingtonsfamily@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 4:14 AM
Subject: Re: [One Big Huntingtons Family] from Dori


Hi Colleen
I have just read your e-mail with interest, you say that you want children
but won't have any in case you do have H D and do not want to pass it on.
This is something I feel strongly about, I read so many heartrending e-mail's
about all the at risk people who have children and are frightened they may
have passed on H D to them.
Some of their letters make me want to weep, yet some still go ahead on the
off chance that all will be ok.
They put themselves and children through hell because they acted like an
Ostrich, life is not something you can take for granted you have to think of
your
consequences of your actions.
Having said all this please think about the test, after all you may not have
H D and it would be such a shame not to have child, they are of course a joy,
and if you are negative you will be able to enjoy your children knowing that
they are free of H D and you will not be passing it onto yet another poor
generation as there is no cure yet the only way to get rid of H D is NOT pass
it on
anymore.
Carol


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