# People With Down Syndrome Having Babies.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-down-syndrome-having-babies/831324>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 18, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-down-syndrome-having-babies/831324 "2019-03-18T17:36:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-down-syndrome-having-babies/831324/1 "2019-03-18T17:36:53Z")

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Can people with Down Syndrome have children?

Whether or not they should is a matter for GD. My question is a purely biological one.

I know I’ve never heard of one having a child. I guess if they did there would be a 50/50 chance of their child getting the extra chromosome. So there’d be a 50/50 chance of their offspring having Down Syndrome, right?

As I said I never heard of one having a baby. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.

:):)🙂

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-down-syndrome-having-babies/831324/2 "2019-03-18T17:40:21Z")

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As per [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Fertility), it’s fairly unusual, but not unheard of. It sounds like the condition affects fertility for both sexes, though more so for men.

> [@](#):
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> Males with Down syndrome usually do not father children, while females have lower rates of fertility relative to those who are unaffected. Fertility is estimated to be present in 30–50% of females. Menopause typically occurs at an earlier age. The poor fertility in males is thought to be due to problems with sperm development; however, it may also be related to not being sexually active. As of 2006, three instances of males with Down syndrome fathering children and 26 cases of females having children have been reported. Without assisted reproductive technologies, around half of the children of someone with Down syndrome will also have the syndrome.

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**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-down-syndrome-having-babies/831324/3 "2019-03-18T17:49:57Z")

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The short answer is yes, people with Down Syndrome can and do have babies, though as the [National Down Syndrome Society](https://www.ndss.org/resources/sexuality) points out, about 50% of women with Down Syndrome are fertile, and men with the syndrome "have a significantly lower overall fertility rate than that of other men of comparable ages.+ Between a third and a half of children born to someone with Down Syndrome will have trisomy 21 or other developmental issues.

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**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-down-syndrome-having-babies/831324/4 "2019-03-18T17:50:57Z")

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Ninja’d. 🙂