is it genetic

[nightmare]

i was just wondering about pcos being genetic. i am the only one in my family who has pcos. none of my relatives have it. I just read something which sugests that it is passed down from the mother.

i am worried about passing it on to my own children if i have any. this is mainly because i am still struggling to control it.

[tiggarat]

it's hard to say for sure. I know that pcos is genetic, at least women with other females in the family with it have a higher chance of having it, much like women whose female family members who've had breast cancer have a greater risk of developing breast cancer themselves.

both my mom's aunt and my dad's mom showed signs of pcos (aunt unable to have children, and grandma was overweight and her children were more than a few years apart in age), but I doubt they were officially dx'd with it. I'm concerned about 2 of my nieces (14 yr old and 20 yr old), but they haven't been tested yet.

this is an interesting article about whether or not your daughter will inherit pcos:
http://http://www.soulcysters.net/wi...r-pcos-275568/

[Cristine]

Not 100% sure considering they've never been formally diagnosed but I do believe my Mom and Aunt & possibly Grandma have PCOS like me.

My Grandma has hypothyroidism but did not have any problems conceiving and carrying 3 children. (She was 20, 21, and 22 when she got pregnant)

My Mother has hypothyroidism and even had to have the left side of her thyroid removed. She was also saying that when she was younger she had irregular periods (until she went on b/c). She went off the b/c pill and a month later she conceived me (Mom was 26 when she had me)

My Aunt (Mom's younger sister) on the other hand has had 3 m/c (that I can remember) and had a lot of difficulty becoming pregnant. She eventually did have 2 girls, but not until she was well into her 30s. She also has anxiety problems, panic attacks etc and a weak immune system as well as hypothyroidism.

All 3 of them carry most of their weight in the stomach area.

[Aymen]

IMO, I believe PCOS is genetic. I've got 10 Aunts and Cousins who have PCOS, some who have been diagnosed with it, some who have not. There are a few of my Aunts who do not have it, but their daughters do, and then there are some of my Aunts who do have it, and their daughters don't have any symptoms and don't have PCOS.

At first I thought it came from my Father's side, but after much digging, we found out that my paternal grandfather's mother had difficulties sustaining pregnancies, and according to my Grandmother, had many symptoms of PCOS.

[aa6660]

Not certain in my family, but my sis has been unable to conceive and has a few of the other symptoms. I sent her some info on PCOS and told her she might mention it to her dr the next time she goes.

[tripletmommy]

The only person I know for sure that has it is a cousin on my father's side, but there are others that I suspect have it on that side.

[Stacie M]

I think scientific studies have found a genes for PCOS (someone correct me if I'm wrong, I think this was recent), so yes, I think it is genetic.

I do not believe it has to come from your mom. Half of your genes come from your father, and these impact things you just as much as genes from your mother. I think a lot of people assume the maternal side because some of the aspects of PCOS impact fertility. If you look at it like any other endocrine condition (diabetes would be a good example), having a family member (maternal or paternal) with it would raise your odds of having the condition.

As far as having a relative diagnosed with it, I don't have any with a diagnosis. There is one cousin on my dad's side that I think could very well have it, and maybe a few cousins on my mom's side. But, just like any other illness, just because you are the unlucky one to get the disease, doesn't mean that it isn't floating around your gene pool. DH's cousin has a daughter with Fragile X, a genetic chromosomal condition, that we found came from his cousin. However, no one, in distant or recent memory or record, has had this condition. Apparently it was in the gene pool and just decided to pop up now.

[Mariela]

My mum and my sister have been properly diagnosed with PCOS, the only one who hasn't is me.

[jenniek41908]

i was just wondering about pcos being genetic. i am the only one in my family who has pcos. none of my relatives have it. I just read something which sugests that it is passed down from the mother.

i am worried about passing it on to my own children if i have any. this is mainly because i am still struggling to control it.

i am the only one in my family too... i dont know where i got it from... it's hard being the only sibling that has stuff wrong with them...

[Nyxks]

I do not believe it to be gentic, since no female in my family or my dads has had signs of it, or issues getting preggers to start with

[Stacie M]

I do not believe it to be gentic, since no female in my family or my dads has had signs of it, or issues getting preggers to start with

Do you have a family history of diabetes?

[Lubby23]

I think its genetic. I do not know for sure since my grandma (fathers mom) died 24 years ago but I believe she had it. She was told she couldnt have kids and it took about 8 years of trying to get preg the first time, she had some facial hair, was over weight, and she had type 2 diabetes. I think some of my aunts (dads sisters) may have it but they are very Catholic and dont talk about things like that. Also there is a lot of type 2 diabetes on that side of the family.

My sister who seeminly has no visual symptoms of PCOS, besides irreg periods and the cysts, was also Dx with PCOS last year. Her PCOS is similar to mine, neither of us is over weight, have problems with acne or excess hair. BUT we both has irreg cycles (30-45 days long) and cysts on the u/s. Docs say both of us have mild cases, so I think there are more women in my family that have it just dont know it. Also both of us got preg without fertility meds.

[nightmare]

It seems that there are mixed feelings about this. I am still unsure although i would like to know where it came from. As Jennie said it is hard being the only one diagnosed in the family with pcos. I sometimes feel like they don't understand.

I know that it never came from my mums side of the family so guess it must have been in my dads side somewhere.

It is interresting to see what everyone thinks and look at the results of the poll. thank you for relpying.

[giovannirose]

where Do I get started, my physician ran a few tests and came out with poss.metabolic syndrome/insulin resistant. But the more I read the more it sounds like pcos/ insulin resistant syndrome. what's the difference?

[Erin986]

My mom never showed an symptoms of PCOS and didn't have any problems getting pregnant. However my sister and I have both been dx with it. I'm overweight, but not IR. My sister is a normal weight and also not IR.