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Study: parents less likely to have more children after autism diagnosis

"These findings have important implications for genetic counseling of affected families," said researcher Neil Risch.

By Brooks Hays
Olivia Kelly (6) takes a kiss from Buck the therapy dog at the Life Skills/Touch Point Autism Services "Milk and Cookies with Santa" event in Maryland Heights, Missouri on November 27, 2012. The event offers holiday fun for families with children on the autism spectrum. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Olivia Kelly (6) takes a kiss from Buck the therapy dog at the Life Skills/Touch Point Autism Services "Milk and Cookies with Santa" event in Maryland Heights, Missouri on November 27, 2012. The event offers holiday fun for families with children on the autism spectrum. UPI/Bill Greenblatt | License Photo

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (UPI) -- When a child is diagnosed with autism, the child's parents are much less likely to have additional children.

A new study, lead by Neil Risch of the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed the public health records of some 20,000 families featuring at least one autistic child in California.

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"While it has been postulated that parents who have a child with [autism] may be reluctant to have more children, this is first time that anyone has analyzed the question with hard numbers," said Risch.

In analyzing the 20,000 California families touched by autism, Risch and his team of researchers were able to show that parents were significantly less likely to having a second child after a their first is diagnosed with the social disorder. Further childbearing takes a similar hit in the wake of a second or third child with autism.

While the conclusion may seem obvious, the confirmed results are significant for calculating the chance that a couple's second child will be autistic after the first is diagnosed. Before scientists factored in the reality that so many parents were choosing to forego further childbearing in the wake of a diagnosis, the estimated risk was 8.7 percent. But factoring in these new findings move that number up to 10.1 percent.

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"These findings have important implications for genetic counseling of affected families," said Risch.

The study was published this week in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

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