Perhaps it would not come as a big surprise to many, but a recent German study has documented that couples, where at least one of the partners has type 1 diabetes, are far less likely to have children than healthy couples.
The study, which was published on Feb. 23 in Diabetic Medicine, examined 697 individuals with type 1 diabetes (364 women, 333 men) in Germany. The researchers collected information about the number of children born to families, the sex of the children and whether the family had a prior history of diabetes. Then compared these demographics to overall regional statistics.
The study found that while the overall fertility rate for women (out of a sampling of 350,000 people) was 1.36, that number fell to 0.88 for women who had type 1 diabetes – and even lower for couples where the male partner also had the condition to a 0.65 rate.
A few reasons suggested by the authors of the study for the low rates were decreased probability of conception, along with risks of pregnancy complications and fears of passing on the type 1 diabetes gene to offspring.
The study is another very good example of why we need to focus on a type 1 diabetes cure in medical research. Treatments will not help in this scenario – in order for couples to feel more secure about having a baby, they will want a permanent cure – and know that one is available for their children should they also get type 1 diabetes. Only a cure will provide the needed security, which is something the diabetes foundations should consider when deciding what to do with the donations they receive.
– Stoyan
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