It’s been a long and exhausting 5 years, but 2017 will go down in our family history as the year the tide changed. The year Idan’s immune system began to show its first signs of stabilizing. The year Idan was able to come out of isolation and even go to school. And now, the year that made Idan’s and our dream of growing our family a reality.
When Idan was first diagnosed with Hyper IgM, many of his doctors expressed relief that he was an only child because it reduced his exposure to germs, which, at the time, were a deadly threat. Worse yet, having another child in the future in and of itself appeared to be fraught with uncertainty. With Idan’s diagnosis came my own diagnosis. As a carrier of this dreadful disease, I learned that any child of mine has a 50% chance of inheriting Hyper IgM. This means that a baby boy would have a 50% chance of having the disease and requiring the same interventions that Idan went through. And a baby girl would have a 50% chance of being a carrier, which would mean she may eventually face the same realities as a mother that I do today. So for a period of time, we did not know if we would ever have another child. Thanks to the wonders of modern science and medicine, and a calm in the raging storm of illness and recovery, we have been blessed with a second little miracle – and can sleep well at night knowing that this baby will not have or be a carrier of Hyper IgM.
As we look forward to May of 2018, when we expect to welcome this new blessing into our lives, we wish you all a joyous and wonderful holiday season, and a very happy, healthy and meaningful New Year.