Can hypothyroidism be passed on to children?

First of all, we need to know that inheritance is uncertain; secondly, whether the child will inherit it depends on the genes of both parents. If both parents have this gene, then the child will have a greater chance of inheriting it, but it cannot be 100% certain. This inheritance is still a random situation, but if both parents have the disease-causing gene, there is a higher probability that it will be inherited.

In fact, whether the child will inherit the disease has nothing to do with whether the pregnant woman has hypothyroidism or how much medication she takes. It all depends on luck!

If inheritance of thyroid disease does occur, it is the gene for the disease, and it is impossible to inherit the disease (hypothyroidism)! Any pregnant woman who carries the thyroid disease gene may give birth to a baby with congenital hypothyroidism, even if she does not suffer from hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism! It has nothing to do with whether the woman gets sick during pregnancy, how much medicine she takes, or whether her thyroid function is completely controlled during pregnancy!

Because only a very small number of babies' congenital hypothyroidism are inherited, the vast majority are caused by other reasons. Moreover, if the baby inherits hypothyroidism, the father must carry the gene for thyroid disease, otherwise it cannot be inherited.

From the theory of thyroid disease inheritance, only a very small number of newborns suffer from hypothyroidism directly after inheriting the thyroid disease genes from their father and mother. The vast majority of these are caused by abnormalities in the occurrence, development and function of the thyroid gland and have nothing to do with expectant mothers with hypothyroidism.

Because inheritance only occurs at the gene level, that is, what is inherited is the gene, not the disease. Moreover, the number of newborns born with congenital hypothyroidism is extremely small, generally about 1/2000-4000.

Thyroid disease has a certain genetic tendency, but there is no rule as to whether or not one will develop the disease after inheriting the disease gene! If a baby inherits the gene for thyroid disease, will he get the disease? When did you get sick? Is it hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism? Do I have thyroiditis or thyroid nodules? Or even thyroid cancer! It's all random and depends entirely on luck! Maybe they will never get sick in their lifetime, or maybe they have been sick before they were born. Babies with hypothyroidism are people with bad luck.

Not all babies who are born with "neonatal congenital hypothyroidism" have it inherited! Only a few are inherited. Most of them are transient and the patient will stop taking the medicine after 2 to 3 years.

Moreover, those who have already developed the disease are not all descendants of pregnant women with hypothyroidism! At the current level of medical science, we only know that the hypothyroidism gene of a baby with hypothyroidism is the result of the simultaneous action of the father and the mother, neither of which can be missing, but the specific process is not clear. If a child has hypothyroidism, it is not the mother’s fault alone! No one is wrong, the child is just unlucky!