
Genetics and Fertility
04/02/21 • 65 min
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Have you ever wondered if your struggle to conceive could be caused by your genes? Today we're going to answer that question and more about genetics and fertility by talking with two certified genetic counselors with CooperGenomics: Sharyn Lincoln and Sheila Johal.
In this episode, we cover:
Infertility is a disease affecting nearly 7% of all couples. It is a highly heterogeneous pathology with a complex etiology that includes both environmental and genetic factors. In this episode we will be focusing on the genetics.
What percentage of infertility can be attributed to our genes?
Genetics and Female Infertility
47,XXX (trisomy X; Triple X)
⁃ What is trisomy X?
⁃ How common is 47,XXX?
⁃ What are the symptoms of Triple X syndrome?
⁃ How common is infertility in women with Triple X?
⁃ Will the children conceived also have this chromosomal abnormality?
Turner syndrome (monosomy X)
⁃ What is Turner Syndrome?
⁃ How common is it?
⁃ What are the symptoms?
⁃ How common is mosaicism with this chromosomal defect?
⁃ How common is infertility in women with monosomy X?
⁃ Will the children conceived also have this chromosomal abnormality?
Single Gene Disorders
⁃ Fragile X (Primary Ovarian Failure)
⁃ Premutation
⁃ Galactosemia
⁃ Others
Polygenic, complex female infertility (environment & genetics)
⁃ Endometriosis
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ Fibroids
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC)
⁃ Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
⁃ Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
⁃ Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ XXX syndrome
⁃ Fragile X syndrome
Genetics and Male Infertility
Klinefelter syndrome
⁃ What is Klinefelter syndrome, 47,XXY?
⁃ How common is Klinefelter syndrome?
⁃ What are the symptoms of Klinefelter syndrome other than infertility?
⁃ Is it possible for a man with Klinefelter syndrome to reproduce?
⁃ Will the children also have chromosomal abnormalities?
47,XYY syndrome
⁃ How common is XYY syndrome?
⁃ What are the symptoms of XYY syndrome other than infertility?
⁃ Will the children also have chromosomal abnormalities?
Structural chromosomal abnormalities (SCAs) include deletions, duplications,
translocations (balanced, imbalanced, and Robertsonian), and inversions.
⁃ Y chromosome micro deletions
Single Gene Disorders (Cystic Fibrosis)
Why has it been so hard to pinpoint the exact genes associated with male and female
fertility?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.
Have you ever wondered if your struggle to conceive could be caused by your genes? Today we're going to answer that question and more about genetics and fertility by talking with two certified genetic counselors with CooperGenomics: Sharyn Lincoln and Sheila Johal.
In this episode, we cover:
Infertility is a disease affecting nearly 7% of all couples. It is a highly heterogeneous pathology with a complex etiology that includes both environmental and genetic factors. In this episode we will be focusing on the genetics.
What percentage of infertility can be attributed to our genes?
Genetics and Female Infertility
47,XXX (trisomy X; Triple X)
⁃ What is trisomy X?
⁃ How common is 47,XXX?
⁃ What are the symptoms of Triple X syndrome?
⁃ How common is infertility in women with Triple X?
⁃ Will the children conceived also have this chromosomal abnormality?
Turner syndrome (monosomy X)
⁃ What is Turner Syndrome?
⁃ How common is it?
⁃ What are the symptoms?
⁃ How common is mosaicism with this chromosomal defect?
⁃ How common is infertility in women with monosomy X?
⁃ Will the children conceived also have this chromosomal abnormality?
Single Gene Disorders
⁃ Fragile X (Primary Ovarian Failure)
⁃ Premutation
⁃ Galactosemia
⁃ Others
Polygenic, complex female infertility (environment & genetics)
⁃ Endometriosis
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ Fibroids
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC)
⁃ Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
⁃ Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
⁃ Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI)
⁃ Is there a genetic link?
⁃ XXX syndrome
⁃ Fragile X syndrome
Genetics and Male Infertility
Klinefelter syndrome
⁃ What is Klinefelter syndrome, 47,XXY?
⁃ How common is Klinefelter syndrome?
⁃ What are the symptoms of Klinefelter syndrome other than infertility?
⁃ Is it possible for a man with Klinefelter syndrome to reproduce?
⁃ Will the children also have chromosomal abnormalities?
47,XYY syndrome
⁃ How common is XYY syndrome?
⁃ What are the symptoms of XYY syndrome other than infertility?
⁃ Will the children also have chromosomal abnormalities?
Structural chromosomal abnormalities (SCAs) include deletions, duplications,
translocations (balanced, imbalanced, and Robertsonian), and inversions.
⁃ Y chromosome micro deletions
Single Gene Disorders (Cystic Fibrosis)
Why has it been so hard to pinpoint the exact genes associated with male and female
fertility?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Previous Episode

Impact of Fostering on Kids Already in the Family
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.
Bringing foster children into your family may impact the kids already in your home—both in positive and potentially negative ways. We will provide suggestions on how to integrate new foster children into your home as seamlessly as possible. Our guest expert is Dr. Eshele Williams, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who brings her professional expertise with counseling foster families as well as her personal experience as being a biological child in a family that fostered many children in her childhood.
In this episode, we cover:
- Positive benefits of fostering on children already in the family.
- Possible challenging issues children in the family might face when foster children join the family.
- Benefits of preparing children in the family for the realities of fostering.
This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
· Weekly podcasts
· Weekly articles/blog posts
· Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Next Episode

Helping Parents & Kids Manage Phones, Internet, & Gaming
Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.
How old is too young for a phone? Is gaming harmful to our kids? How much technology is too much. We talk with Dr. Jay Berk, a licensed psychologist and an expert in working with children and families. He is the author of two books: “A Parent’s Quick Guide to Electronic Addiction” and “Codeswitching: Social Skills in the Screen-Age”.
In this episode, we cover:
Parents from time immemorial have worried about the impact of the “new technology” and this goes back to our great great great grandparents worrying about the influence of novels to parents of the 50’s worry about too much time on the phone, to parents of the 80s worrying about too much TV, and on to the present where we worry about screen time, texting, and gaming.
- We parents are digital “immigrants” while our kids are digital natives. How does this dynamic present challenges?
- How to keep up with what our kids are doing?
- What are the general best practices for elementary aged kids using digital technology?
- What age should kids be given a phone?
- What are reasonable rules for phone use?
- How do things change as our kids each around age 11 or 12 and on into their teen years
- How important is the use of digital media to socialize for this generation?
- When should parents worry?
- Is the child getting enough sleep?
- Are they eating well?
- Are they getting enough exercise?
- Are they doing well in school?
- Do they have real life friends?
- If so, they are probably just fine.
- What are the signs that our kids may be too involved with digital technology or gaming
- How much screen time is too much for tweens? For teens?
- Do different types of technology have different risks and benefits? Internet? Gaming? Porn?
- What are some reasonable rules for families to set in regards to technology, screen time, and gaming?
- How to get buy-in from our tweens and teens?
- App-tell kid
- A challenge particular to families adopting or fostering older children or teens is that often our kids come to us with having had little supervision or rules about internet use? How can we establish healthy habits when the rules are new to them?
Resources:
- A Parent’s Quick Guide to Electronic Addiction by Dr. Jay Berk
- Center for Parent and Teen Communication: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting In the Digital Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aNtRhYfA3k
- Creating a Family’s Navigating the Internet with Adopted or Foster Tweens and Teens https://creatingafamily.org/adoption-category/adoption-blog/navigating-the-internet-with-adopted-or-foster-tweens-and-teens/
This podcast is produced by www.Creat
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption & Foster Care - Genetics and Fertility
Transcript
Please pardon the errors, this is an automatic transcription.
0:00
welcome everyone to creating a family talk about infertility i'm dawn davenport i am your host and the director of creating a family and we are this podcast but we are also a website full of information to help you in this infertility journey struggle whatever word you want to use for it and that website is creating a family.org so today we're going to be talking about genetics and fertility infertility is a disease affe
If you like this episode you’ll love
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