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I'm a mid 40's female with the permutation of Fragile X. I found out I was a carrier when, my now 20 year old, son was diagnosed with Fragile X at about 6 months. I went thru menopause at about 30 and finally figured out why it happened so early after reading this article. My son is healthy. He does not speak and still has bowel movements in his pants sometimes. He is mod/severely mentally retarded. He became extremely violent after puberty and I placed him in a group home at 16. He has been on several meds for his behavior and is doing okay (not great) within a very structured group home life.

I am the sister of three brothers and one sister who are all affected by fragile X. My three brothers are the lucky ones, they all live in separate group homes and are doing well. My sister however, is not so lucky. She is not mentally handicapped enough to qualify for MRDD services from the county she lives in but she is not high functioning enough to be able to live on her own without everyday monitoring. Getting her settled into a life since my parents passed away has been really hard. All four of my siblings exhibit very different phenotypes of the fragile x syndrome.

My mother had fragile-x with ataxia. She lived to age 90, but without a good quality of life. Her thought process was always circular, and it was often hard to understand what she meant. She was mis-diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. We couldn't understand why her medication made no difference - but now we know. My brother has Fragile-x with progressive ataxia and his brain is shrinking. He is 63. I am female, and have always had learning disabilities. Math was difficult, and I only remembered what I wrote down - reading didn't imprint the information in my mind. I'm getting tested soon.

I am a 27 year old mother of two, one boy and one girl who are both affected by Fragile-X. They are the most precious things god has ever granted me. I think that the hardest part of the diagnosis isn't so much a "why me" but the guilt I have never stopped feeling for not knowing before I had them that I was carrying the gene. They are the first and only ones in my family affected by this. I just can't get past the worry of what their life may turn out to be. Mom's always feel bad when a child gets hurt and she is helpless at that moment, but I feel that way everyday when I watch them attempt things that seem so hard, and I can't help. It's just different because that feeling lasts all day every day. My heart breaks for them when I see them around peers who do treat them different. Defiantly one of the hardest things I have been through, but also amazing to watch them learn and do something new or better everyday.

I have always wondered why my son was mentally impaired and had so much difficulty in school. I remember in the hospital when he was born, he wouldn't wake up when the nurses brought him to me to be nursed. They would wipe his face with a cold washcloth to wake him up to eat. He was also late talking. He had so much difficulty in kindergarten, the next year they put him in special ed classes and he stayed in those classes through most of his school years which upset him. In some ways he was very social and his speech therapy aide said he scored high on social skills and he didn't go to that therapy very long. I could always tell though that he couldn't read other people's emotions well. In school, he was pretty good at reading, but is still terrible at math. He has large ears and a long face, but is about six feet tall. His dad is only 5'7" and I am 5'6". My son is 24 now and has gotten into trouble with law off and on because he migrates towards friends who don't tease him as much as regular kids. However, they tend to use him as a result.

I have several male cousins and one female cousin on my father's side with fragile x (all from one aunt). I was tested for it and was told I did not carry it, which meant my sister was also negative. It was difficult on the entire family; my father and mother tried to help, but it was difficult for all of us. My female cousin with fragile x lived with me for awhile; she had difficulty learning and needed close supervision. Another of my female cousins (the child of another aunt) who did not show any signs of it does have a son who apparently has fragile x. I assume that cousin only had one copy of the gene, since she has no symptoms. It was extremely hard on my aunt and is hard on my cousin; one of my male cousins has already died from heart complications due to fragile x. Anyone who believes this gene may be in your family. I would strongly recommend being tested. I did not decide to have children until I received a negative result. It was extremely difficult trying to help my cousin when she was staying with me.