Real World Implications Post #2

     One obstacle Sonia Sotomayor had to overcome when she was young was juvenile diabetes or Type 1 diabetes. This condition occurs when the pancreas produces no insulin. The insulin is needed to allow glucose (sugar) to enter the body and produce energy. This type occurs only in 5% of cases, but it is one of the most common chronic diseases for children. Her struggle started when neither her mom or her dad  was able to give her the insulin shots she needed, and Sonia was forced to take them herself. At only nine years old, Type 1 diabetes became a scary but important part of her life.
     Sonia mentions that while her friends and her brother's wife were having children, Sonia had to be more careful about planning a pregnancy. Her mother was insistent on Kevin becoming a doctor, not for the money and security, but to understand the consequences of having a child who has a mother with Type 1. Scientists are looking in to what instigates these risks and have concluded that genetics, weather conditions, virus exposure, and early diets are possible factors. So the question is what kind of impact will a Type 1 parent have on their offspring?

     The risk for a child of a parent who has type 1 is lower if it is the mother and not the father. If the father has it, the risk is 10%, but if the mother is twenty-five years or younger when the child his born the risk is 4%. The risk is even lower if the mother is over twenty-five which is 1%, almost the same as an average American. Sonia was diagnosed at 8 or 9 years old, and if she had a child, the risk is somewhat higher because she was diagnosed before age eleven. Many people with type 1 have other immune disorders, and for those with thyroid disease and a poorly working adrenal gland the risk for is 1 in 2. These concerns made Sonia, Kevin, and her mother hesitate about having children. At the end of the chapter, Sonia says that "having it all" doesn't just mean having the job, the house, the perfect family with children but that having a great career with friends and family constitutes the "American Dream."