Cystic fibrosis can i have kids

Although parents often blame themselves when a child is born with cystic fibrosis, it's important to remember that nothing a parent does causes this disease.

The organs most often affected by cystic fibrosis are the lungs and the pancreas, which can lead to breathing and digestive problems. In a person with cystic fibrosis, mucus is still able to trap bacteria, but it has trouble moving out of the lungs.

As a result, bacteria remain in the lungs, and can cause serious infections. The pancreas is an organ that produces proteins called enzymes, which help the digestion process.

In a person with cystic fibrosis, the thick, sticky mucus blocks ducts or paths between the pancreas and the intestines. It prevents enzymes that digest fats and proteins from reaching the intestines. As a result, people with cystic fibrosis have trouble digesting food and getting the vitamins and nutrients they need from it. Because the pancreas controls the level of sugar in the blood, a small percentage of people with cystic fibrosis may also develop type-one diabetes formerly called juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes.

In some people with cystic fibrosis, the intestines, liver , sweat glands, and reproductive organs are also harmed. The tube connecting the testes and prostate gland can become blocked, leaving many men with cystic fibrosis infertile. However, certain fertility methods and surgical procedures can sometimes make it possible for these men to become fathers. Although women with cystic fibrosis may be less fertile than other women are, many of them are able to conceive and have successful pregnancies.

Bile ducts, which carry bile from the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine, may also become blocked and inflamed. This could cause liver problems, like cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Only a small percentage of people with cystic fibrosis develop these types of problems, however. Cystic fibrosis symptoms can vary from person to person, depending on the severity of the disease.

For example, one child with cystic fibrosis may have respiratory problems but not digestive problems, while another child may have both. In addition, the signs and symptoms of cystic fibrosis may vary with age. In some newborns, the first sign of cystic fibrosis may be that they have difficulty passing their first bowel movement meconium.

This occurs when the meconium becomes so thick that it can't move through the intestines, sometimes causing a blockage. Parents may later notice their baby is not gaining weight or growing normally. The baby's stools may be especially bulky, bad-smelling, and greasy due to poor digestion of fats. People with cystic fibrosis tend to have two to five times the normal amount of salt sodium chloride in their sweat. Parents sometimes notice this symptom of cystic fibrosis first, because they taste the salt when they kiss their child.

Pediatric cystic fibrosis may also have many of these symptoms. Growth delays often continue, and kids with cystic fibrosis tend to be significantly smaller than others their age. They may experience shortness of breath and have difficulty with exercise. Persistent coughing or wheezing is another possible symptom, especially when accompanied by frequent chest and sinus infections with recurring pneumonia or bronchitis.

A child may have very thick phlegm sputum. Infants and young children often swallow what they cough up, however, so parents may not be aware of it. Some people with cystic fibrosis develop growths polyps in their nasal passages. They may experience severe or chronic sinusitis, which is inflammation of the sinuses.

Their pancreas may become inflamed too; this condition is known as pancreatitis. Clubbing enlargement or rounding of the fingertips and toes eventually occurs in most people with cystic fibrosis, as well. However, clubbing also occurs in some people born with heart disease and other types of lung problems. Children usually older than age four sometimes have intussusceptions. When this happens, one part of the intestine is displaced into another part of the intestine.

The intestine telescopes into itself, similar to a TV antenna being pushed down. Frequent coughing or hard-to-pass stools can occasionally cause rectal prolapse. Your doctor can refer you to an expert in male reproduction, who can use medical tests to confirm whether you are infertile. The Biology of Male Reproduction and CF To understand the inner workings of infertility in men with cystic fibrosis, it is helpful to first understand the biology of the male reproductive system.

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During pregnancy, your metabolism increases and the heart and lungs work differently to accommodate the changes to your body. For some women with CF, particularly those with a low or unstable lung function, poor nutrition or low body weight, these changes can cause significant and irreversible health complications.

For this reason, pregnant women with CF are monitored much more regularly than women without cystic fibrosis. For more information on women with cystic fibrosis and fertility, download our starting a family booklet.

This is because the tube that carries sperm from the testicles to the penis called the vas deferens is either missing or blocked. However, it is possible for men with this CF-related problem to father biological children through fertility treatment. The lack of the vas deferens does not cause erectile dysfunction impotence. For more information on men with CF and fertility, download our starting a family booklet.

During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the woman's womb to grow and develop.

In addition, women with CF are also more likely to suffer stress incontinence and have irregular menstruation related to poor nutrition. Male CF patients are usually infertile. About 98 percent of all male CF patients are infertile due to a blockage or total absence of the sperm canal. The vas deferens is a long tube that carries sperm from the testicles through the male reproductive system.

The absence of sperm in the semen makes it impossible to fertilize an egg, and this absence may also make the semen thinner. However, there is a difference between being infertile and sterile. Even though the vas deferens is blocked or nonexistent, the sperm is there, and 90 percent of CF patients produce sperm normally. This means that male CF patients can still have biological children through assisted reproductive technology ART. Possibilities for fathering a child change after a lung transplant.

The anti-rejection drugs prescribed to lung transplant patients have been linked to birth defects.