The Complete Egg

The before, during and after of a molar pregnancy, with a side of chemo and a 12 month wait before ttc. And most recently: experience of a healthy pregnancy.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The List Keeps Growing

Woah. When I was first diagnosed with a molar pregnancy, I only knew about a partial molar and complete molar. I am sad to say that the list has grown. I have heard a bunch of different circumstances:

- twins from IVF (in-vitro), one twin is healthy, one is a complete molar pregnancy
- twins: one healthy twin, one partial molar
- ectopic molar pregnancy

I read an abstract recently about IVF and complete molar pregnancies. It got me to thinking. I was wondering how this was possible. Can't they tell if the egg is empty of genetic material? The abstract seemed to indicate that the fertilized eggs divided normally before doctors transferred two into the mother. One developed into a healthy fetus and the other fertilized egg became a complete molar pregnancy. I wonder if there was never any maternal genetic material in that one egg or if it somehow got kicked out.

Yes, even now, I still want to know why. Why are molar pregnancies more common in East Asian countries? Is it diet? Pollution? Genetics? There are studies that show that women who have moved from the Phillipines to Hawaii have, in one generation, a decrease in the incidence of molar pregnancies. This suggests diet or environment.

Studies have also found a gene (NALP7) that is responsible for recurrent molar pregnacies. There are families that have a history of recurrent molar pregnancies interspersed with normal pregnancies.

It will probably never be entirely preventable. I'm glad that there are people researching it all the same.

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