Many people think that hearing loss is something that quite a few people inherit from their parents.
I also had a vague image of hearing loss before I started learning about it.
In fact, however, it is said that 80% of children with congenital hearing loss are born to hearing parents.
Here are some details about newborns, or congenital hearing loss.
Can any newborn baby have congenital hearing loss?
Not many people know much about heredity.
Of course, I do not have a perfect understanding of heredity.
However, I was worried that my child might inherit hearing loss, so I did a lot of study.
It may come as a shock to you, but the fact is that every child born with a hearing loss has the potential to be born with a hearing loss.
Or rather, there is a possibility that the child will be born with various disabilities other than hearing loss.
You often hear about genetic mutations.
In fact, you and I both have genetic mutations.
No child is born without any genetic mutation.
There are several to several dozen genes that have some kind of mutation.
If this mutated gene is a gene that affects the formation of the ear, you may have a hearing loss.
Of course, it is also possible to be born with other disorders.
Therefore, it is safe to assume that there is unfortunately no way to prevent congenital hearing loss.
How Hearing Loss is Inherited
To begin with, the inheritance of the disorder depends on whether the parent's disorder is a dominant or recessive trait.
For example, if the gene causing the hearing loss is dominant, the child will most likely inherit the hearing loss.
If both parents did not have hearing loss, but both parents had mutations in the same recessive gene, the child would have hearing loss even if the parents did not have hearing loss.
Thus, the inheritance of hearing loss, or disability, is very complicated, and most of the time we can't do anything about it with all our fussing.
Please refer to this article for an explanation of how genetics works.
Genetic testing to see if a child has inherited the disorder
In the meantime, it is possible to test a parent's genes to see if the child will inherit hearing loss.
However, few common genetic tests can tell you whether your disorder is dominant or recessive.
If you are concerned, please consult with your otolaryngologist to see if he or she can write a referral letter or something like that.
Conclusion
We understand your concern about hearing loss in newborns.
However, it is also true that it is not a problem that we parents can do anything about.
I know it is difficult to separate the two.
However, I think it is important to gather information and take action as early as possible so that your child will not have to suffer as much as possible.
I understand that you may feel sorry for yourself, but I hope that you will give your child lots of love and let him or her grow up healthy and happy.
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