Average Size Parents, Dwarf Child?

I had a routine ultrasound at 30 weeks gestation when I was pregnant with our youngest son Jason. I remember lying there wondering what on earth the ditzy x-ray tech was doing because she kept leaving and coming back with more and more film. I assumed, at the time, that she didn't know what she was doing and was a bit irritated that she was taking so dang long.

The following day I received a call from our OB/GYN physician telling me that something was a bit "different" on my ultrasound films. He said that I would be contacted by a genetics counselor with an appointment for another ultrasound and more information. He told me that our child had a larger than normal head and short long bones but they didn't really know why at that point. He said it could possibly be dwarfism but more testing was necessary to know for sure.

The genetics counselor called us later that day and scheduled me for a "level 2" ultrasound with a specialist. The counselor informed me that it was believed by the genetics staff that our son was an achondroplastic dwarf and that the second ultrasound would likely prove that to be the case. She said that they had very little doubt that he was a dwarf and we should learn about dwarfism and expect that was probably what the results of further testing would be. They were correct. Jason was born on June 3, 1994 and is a dwarf.

Of all the things that can happen during pregnancy it's kind of weird to me now that we never think of dwarfism as a possibility. Looking back I can remember us asking; "Can big people have little people babies?" It's a reasonable question. We are also often asked by others; "Is it a recessive gene that you both had?" No, it doesn't work that way, but is also a reasonable question. We try and be patient and answer any questions that people have.

Jason's dwarfism is caused by a random genetic mutation and happens in about 1 in ever 40,000 births. When my DNA and my husbands DNA were merging together something hiccupped and the gene mutated. Apparently it's pretty common for the hiccups to occur but in Jason's case it's a pretty noticeable genetic mutation.

If Jason were to have children someday with an average height woman they would have a 50% chance of having a dwarf baby and a 50% chance of their baby being average height. The genetics change a bit when two little people have a baby but they can also have a child who is a dwarf or who is average height. Just as it's a bit odd for two average height people to have a dwarf baby, it is also odd for two dwarf parents to have an average sized baby.

Jason is now twelve and a happy, well-adjusted, preteen. He has had none of the medical issues that people with dwarfism can suffer from.