Genetic Counseling Services

To schedule a consultation with a California Cryobank Genetic Counselor, please contact Kathy Driscoll at 800-977-3761 x1042.

Genetics FAQs

1. Is Autism inherited?

   
   

   Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social relations, communication, and by the presence of repetitive, stereotypic, or obsessive-compulsive behavior. Autism occurs more frequently in males than in females. Although the genetics of autism are not well understood at the present time, it is likely that genetic as well as environmental factors play a role. The incidence of autistic spectrum disorders is thought to be between 1 in 166 to 1 in 500 individuals.

   Please visit the sites below for more information:

   Possible Autism Breakthrough
   Medline Plus - Autism
   National Institute of Mental Health - Autism Spectrum Disorders
   CDC - Autism Information Center
   National Institutes of Health - Autism

2. Is there anything I can do to reduce the risk of birth defects in my baby?

   
   

   Regardless of family history, we all have a 3-4% background risk to have a baby born with a birth defect, genetic disease or mental retardation. However, women taking a daily dose of 400 micrograms of folic acid (typical amount found in a daily multivitamin) prior to conception and throughout their pregnancy can significantly decrease the risk of having a child born with a neural tube defect.

   Neural tube defects are malformations of the brain and spine that occur early in pregnancy. Anencephaly and spina bifida are considered to be neural tube defects. Anencephaly is a fatal condition that is the result of poor development of the skull and brain. Spina bifida refers to malformations of the spinal cord and the bones that form the spine. The health impact of spina bifida varies from person to person. A few individuals with spina bifida are mildly affected and have few health concerns, while others have more severe problems that may include paralysis, loss of bowel and bladder control and learning difficulties. Studies have shown that folic acid use decreases the risk for these conditions by as much as 70%. For couples with a family history of neural tube defects, a ten-fold increase in the amount of folic acid is warranted, which must be taken under medical supervision. Folic acid may reduce the chance for other birth defects as well. Please talk to your doctor about the amount of folic acid that is right for you.

   For more information, see Folic Acid Now, an information sheet written by the Centers for Disease Control

3. Is Down syndrome inherited?

   
   

   Down syndrome refers to a disorder that includes mental retardation and other birth defects. Most cases of Down syndrome are not considered to be "inherited" in the sense that a parent passed on the condition to a child due to an intrinsic genetic difference or defect in the parent. Typically, an analysis of human chromosomes (also called a karyotype) reveals a total of 46 chromosomes per cell. Chromosomes come in pairs, and we inherit one chromosome of each pair from our mother and the other chromosome of the pair from our father. This means that an egg cell typically has 23 chromosomes, and a sperm cell has 23 chromosomes, which will then lead to a total of 46 chromosomes in the developing fetus. Occasionally, an accident will occur when a particular egg or sperm cell is made, resulting in an extra or missing chromosome. If the egg or sperm cell has an extra chromosome number 21, the resulting fetus will have an extra chromosome 21, and will be affected with Down syndrome. Down syndrome is also called trisomy 21 because there are three copies of chromosome 21, instead of two copies, in every cell of the body of a person with Down syndrome. In general, the chance that a woman will conceive a child with Down syndrome or another chromosome abnormality increases with age.

   There are other, less common forms of Down syndrome. In rare instances healthy individuals can have a rearrangement of their chromosomes, called a balanced translocation, that can increase their chance to have a child with Down syndrome or other chromosome problems.

   Even less common is mosaic Down syndrome. This can occur if there is an accident in cell division after fertilization, resulting in a developing fetus having some cells with an extra chromosome 21, and some cells with the typical number of chromosomes. People with mosaic Down syndrome are sometimes less severely affected than people with the other two types of Down syndrome.

4. Can I ensure that our baby has a blood type consistent with my husband's or partner's blood type?

   
   

   Visit our Blood Type Chart for more information on the inheritance of blood types.

5. Are allergies or asthma genetic?

   
   

   Allergies and asthma are thought to be caused by a complex combination of environmental factors as well as some yet to be identified genetic factors. Offspring of a person with asthma or allergic disease are at approximately a 15% risk to develop asthma or allergic disease as well. If both parents are affected with asthma or allergies, then that risk may be as high as 30% to 50%.

6. Can a baby's eye color and hair color be predicted or determined?

   
   

   The color of a person's eyes is thought to be the result of the interaction of several different genes. The amount of pigment and its distribution in the eye determines whether a person has brown, hazel, green or blue eyes. The common belief that blue eye color, for example, behaves as a "recessive" to brown eye color is not strictly true. There are many families in which both parents have blue eyes, but their children have brown eyes. The opposite can occur as well. Hair color is inherited in a similar manner to eye color, with many different genes involved. There is no genetic testing that can be done to predict the eye and hair color of children. The chance of having a child with a particular eye or hair color cannot be estimated by knowing the eye and hair color of the parents or other family members, as the genetic aspects of both traits in humans is poorly understood.

7. Is good eyesight inherited?

   
   

   The development of the complex shape and structure of the eye is determined by the interaction of many genes that are inherited from both parents. Many different environmental factors are also thought to impact visual acuity. Also, about 50% of all people have decreased visual acuity that requires correction through the use of glasses or contact lenses. Because eyesight is such a complex trait that is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, and because so many individuals require the use of glasses, accurately predicting the visual acuity of children is not possible.

8. What is color vision deficiency, and how is it inherited?

   
   

   About 8 to 10% of all men have difficulty distinguishing between certain colors. This does not mean that affected individuals see only black and white, or that colors are invisible to them. In the most common type of color vision deficiency, commonly known as color blindness, individuals have a hard time distinguishing between certain shades of red and green. This type of color vision deficiency is inherited as an X-linked trait.

   X-linked inheritance means that the gene causing the trait is located on the X chromosome. Women have two X chromosomes and men have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The Y chromosome predominantly carries genes that are responsible for male development, and it does not contain genes that are responsible for color vision. If a man inherits an X chromosome with a gene on it that causes color blindness, that man will be affected. If a woman inherits an X chromosome with a gene on it that causes color blindness, she will likely have a working copy of that same gene on her other X chromosome and will have normal color vision.

   If a donor is "color blind," he has one X chromosome with the gene for color blindness and one Y chromosome that does not contain any genes on it related to color vision. The donor will pass on only his Y chromosome to all his male offspring. As long as the recipient is not a carrier of the gene for color blindness, all the donor's male offspring will have normal color vision. The donor will only pass on his X chromosome, which contains the gene for color blindness, to his female offspring. As long as the recipient is not a carrier for the gene for color blindness, all the donor’s female offspring will have normal color vision but will be carriers of the gene for color blindness. This means that when female offspring of the colorblind donor are ready to have children of their own, their male children will have a 50% chance of having color vision deficiency.

9. Is acne genetic?

   
   

   The cause of acne is unknown. Acne is very common among adolescents, occurring to some degree in approximately 80% of all teens. It is not currently possible to predict whether or not any child will have acne, regardless of family history.

10. Is alcoholism genetic?

    
    

    People often have concern about whether the offspring of an alcoholic is at greater risk of becoming an alcoholic. While it is true that children of alcoholics are at greater risk, and alcoholism can appear to "run through" families, the exact cause of alcoholism is uncertain. Currently, it is thought that a complex interaction between genes and environment play a role in shaping a person's risk for alcoholism. Genetic factors may include the rate at which a person metabolizes alcohol, or differences in the type and number of certain brain receptors. Environmental factors can include the way children model their parent's behaviors and coping mechanisms, and the availability and pattern of the use of alcohol within a family or peer group. Currently, genetic screening is not available to predict whether or not a person is at higher risk to develop problem drinking patterns.

11. Is cancer genetic?

    
    

    Cancer is a very common group of diseases; it is estimated that 1 out of every 3 Americans will develop cancer at some point during their lifetime. All cancers are due to genetic changes that occur in the cells that make up the tumor. Most people who develop cancer acquire these genetic changes in their cells over the course of their life due to the effects of aging and environmental factors; this is often referred to as "sporadic" cancer. However, approximately 5-10% of people who develop cancer will do so because they have inherited a genetic alteration. This genetic alteration is present in every cell of their body, not just in the tumor cells as is seen in "sporadic" cancers. Typically, people who have inherited a genetic alteration that predisposes them toward the development of cancer have some noticeable differences from people who develop sporadic cancer. People with an inherited genetic alteration tend to develop cancer at a much earlier age, are more likely to have had more than one cancer develop over their lifetime, and tend to have other family members who have also developed the same type of cancer or a related type of cancer. Donor family histories are analyzed for these features of hereditary cancer syndromes.

12. Are traits such as athleticism, creativity, writing and math skills inherited?

    
    

    All of the traits mentioned are considered to be multifactorial, meaning that it's likely that there is some genetic contribution, combined with environmental factors, which influence the expression and degree of expression of these traits. Currently, there is no way to predict or estimate a child's likelihood to express any of these traits based on the apparent expression of these traits in the parent. There is also no genetic testing available for these traits.

13. Does CCB perform psychological testing on our donors?

    
    

    California Cryobank provides Keirsey Temperament Sorter results to clients on some of our donors. This test does not provide any information on the donor's current mental health or his risk to develop any particular type of neuropsychiatric illness. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter provides our clients with some insight into the donor's temperament and his personal style when interacting with others. It cannot predict the general temperament of the donor's offspring, because personality and social behavior are influenced by environmental factors. No one, regardless of the method of reproduction, can predict the temperament, interests, skills and talents of their children.

14. Is major mental illness genetic?

    
    

    Neuropsychiatric illnesses, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are considered to be multifactorial in origin. This means that while it is likely that people who develop these illnesses have an underlying aggregation of several genes that make them susceptible, environmental factors also likely played a role in triggering the disorder. Currently, the specific causes of these illnesses are poorly understood, and there are no clinical genetic tests available that can predict a person's risk to develop these conditions. A good resource for more information on mental illness is the National Institute for Mental Health.

15. Is diabetes genetic?

    
    

    Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes, occurs when the insulin-producing cells of the body are destroyed. The loss of these cells occurs through an "autoimmune" process, which means that the body mistakenly attacks these cells and kills them. The exact trigger(s) of this autoimmune response is unknown. Type 1 diabetes occurs in about 1 in 300 individuals, and most individuals with this type of diabetes are diagnosed before the age of 30. Type 1 diabetes is a multifactorial disease, which means that a number of genes, as well as environmental factors, play a role in its development. Environmental factors that increase a person's chance to develop diabetes include living in a colder climate and being bottle fed rather than breast fed.

    Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult onset diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes, typically occurs in older individuals. Type 2 diabetes is, in most cases, a multifactorial disease. This means that while it is likely that people who develop type 2 diabetes have an underlying genetic susceptibility, environmental factors also play a large role. Environmental factors that are believed to increase the chance of developing type 2 diabetes are lack of exercise and obesity. Because obesity is on the rise in Western countries, the incidence of type 2 diabetes has been increasing and is predicted to continue to rise. Approximately 5 to 10% of adults in the United States are affected with type 2 diabetes, making it a common disease.

    Currently, there are no genetic screening tests that can predict a person's risk to develop either of these two diseases. Our donors undergo a urinalysis and a blood test which will detect individuals who are already affected with diabetes. Our donor applicant's family histories are analyzed to determine if potential offspring would be at a higher risk to develop diabetes compared to the background risk. If the applicant's family history raises concerns, the applicant is not accepted into our donor program. If you have further questions about this disease, the American Diabetes Association is a good resource for additional information.

16. What happens when a client reports a potentially serious medical or genetic disorder?

    
    

    When the California Cryobank receives a report of a potentially serious medical or genetic disorder, any senior manager can issue an immediate order to halt all sales and shipments of any vials of that donor until the medical or genetic significance can be determined by the Medical Director and or the Genetics Department. This information is promptly reviewed in order to determine the best course of action.

    When a client reports an issue with a pregnancy or child (of a CCB donor) to the genetics department, one of the genetic counselors creates a confidential report on the matter. This report often includes medical documentation of the diagnosis in question. We prepare a detailed report which is reviewed and discussed with our medical geneticist and medical director so that we can determine the appropriate follow-up.

    If we determine that the vials should not be available on the general catalogue, we remove the vials of that donor. We contact all clients who are storing vials of that donor with us in order to discuss this new information.

    If the genetics department determines this information is medically relevant to an offspring of the donor, the genetics department will contact all clients who have reported a live born child to California Cryobank.

    This is why it is so important for all clients to inform California Cryobank of their pregnancy and of their child's birth. It is also important for a client to keep CCB informed of any changes in their contact information.

We look forward to providing you excellent service. Please request your Information Packet today.