just found out I have hep c and I have no kids....I really wanted one

[zerolaw]

I will not bring a child into this world with a disease.....im going to try and get this harvoni meds to stop the progression but I will never be a father now im totally heartbroken....my life feels over now that I cant be a dad.....

[Scoutdoy]

Hep c is not a deal breaker in life or children. It's devastating to get the news but don't over react. There are cures now. Not only that but, I have 2 children who don't have hep c and a spouse that doesn't have hep c and I have had it for 30 years. I just finished Harvoni, and am undetected! Get to a good hepatologist and get on one of the treatments. This isn't 1995, there are cures now. Read some info on the forums and ask questions. You may not even have active hep c... Only have the antibody...



Go Royals
Scout

[zerolaw]

Thanks for the info but I don't get it having the antibody is having the disease isnt it

[dragonslayer]

Thanks for the info but I don't get it having the antibody is having the disease isnt it

Most absolutely not!  .. Were you diagnosed with the antibody test only, or did you have a Viral load done.  Big big difference.  Having antibodies means you were exposed; the reason that doesnt necessarily  mean you have the disease is a percentage of people so exposed will fight off the disease with their immune system.. Most dont, however, but to verify this, your doctor needs to order you a  quantitative rna PCR test, in other words, a viral load and a genotype test.  That is the standard way to confirm that you have the disease, or not.. All of us here having reached SVR (cured) or not will test antibody positive for the rest of our lives...  So what... it doesnt mean anything other than that we were exposed.

Have that viral load test if you havent already, to find out what your status really is.

[Joe NM]

Thanks for posting here, and for sharing the rough news. But hopefully not as rough as you're thinking.

Having the antibody doesn't necessarily mean you have hepatitis C. About 1 in 5 people who catch hepatitis C fight it off naturally with their own immune system, usually within the first 6 months of catching it (if it doesn't go on for the rest of your life, that means you had 'acute' hepatitis C...if your immune system doesn't get rid of it completely, then it becomes 'chronic' or lifelong). If that happens, then even though you're free from hepatitis C you'll still have the antibody. The way that works is, every time you get sick from ANY virus, your immune system makes a special cell designed to fight that particular virus--that special cell is called an antibody. Consider it a 'tool' that your body has developed to fight hepatitis C. Even people who are treated and cured still have that antibody for the rest of their lives--not because they HAVE hepatitis C, but because they HAD it at one time.

The only way to tell if you actually have chronic hepatitis C is if they can find the actual virus in your blood ('viral load,' or 'HCV RNA Quantitation'). This is the number that has to be 'undetectable' three months after treatment to be considered cured.

In terms of having kids...

As a man, the only way to transmit HCV sexually to a woman is if BLOOD transfers from you to her. HCV ONLY LIVES IN THE BLOOD, and it does not transmit through semen. The rate of sexual transmission is less than 5% per 20 years.
ANAL sex, where a lot more tearing/blood are present, is a much bigger risk. But I hear no one gets pregnant that way.

If you're really concerned, you could see a fertility clinic or OB/GYN and see about insemination rather than the old-fashioned way (as in, giving sperm sample, etc.), that way you wouldn't put a woman at ANY risk of catching HCV during your attempt to have a child.

Even men with HIV can have children 100% safely now through a technique called 'sperm washing.' (though people with HIV who are successfully being treated have nearly ZERO chance of transmitting the virus, regardless).

Hope this helps. And even if it is a chronic infection, you can and will be cured! It's pretty easy these days, once you get somebody to pay for the drugs (insurance or a drug-manufacturer program can usually do that).