Parents who have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are about one third less likely to have more children than families without an affected child, according to a study led by a UC San Francisco researcher. The findings, which appear in the June 18 issue of JAMA Psychiatry, stem from the largest study of its kind on further child bearing after a child has been diagnosed with the disorder. These are the first data to indicate that this is a reproductive decision. “While it has been postulated that parents who have a child with ASD may be reluctant to have more children, this is first time that anyone has analyzed the question with hard numbers,” said Neil Risch, PhD, a UCSF professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and director of the UCSF Institute for Human Genetics.
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