Born With PCOS? Yes, no, both?
Have you ever felt helpless about your PCOS?
Like you were destined to inherit it because your mother had it?
Or your sisters have it?
Maybe an aunt?
Have you ever felt hesitant to even try to have children because you’re worried they might inherit your PCOS?
I thought that was the case for me. I remember one Christmas morning when my mom was peeling potatoes and suddenly let out a scream from the depths of her belly because a cyst bursted. My sisters and I all struggle with hormonal imbalance and PCOS. Our first cousin has PCOS. I figured it was just in my blueprint, and if I ever gave birth to a daughter, she’d certainly develop PCOS eventually.
WRONG.
What I’ve been reading recently has been blowing my mind, and completely destroys the idea that we are doomed to inherit disease…or frankly, anything. Put away that biology textbook from ninth grade, because sorry, Mendelian Inheritance, you don’t help us explain PCOS.
PCOS is a Polygenic Disorder
It’s no secret that PCOS is such a complex syndrome - hell, that’s why it’s called a syndrome, because quite frankly, even the smartest people in the world are scratching their heads saying “wtf” at its mechanisms. Twin studies suggest PCOS is an X-linked polygenic disorder, meaning many of our genes are involved in PCOS. Some researchers summarized them in the below diagram to help demonstrate the complexity - and this is just what we know now.
While we do not yet know the exact pathophysiology of PCOS, PCOS seems to be caused by a combination of genetic and epigenetic factors. We may inherit a genetic predisposition for PCOS, but we can avoid the activation of genes that contribute to PCOS. How? Epigenetics. Epi, meaning “above”, so everything “above” or outside of genetics. That means our environment, our social and familial interactions, the weather, what toxins we are exposed to, the diversity of our microbiome, our lifestyle choices, and so much more. Effectively every choice we make throughout the day changes the way our genes “switch” on and off. Another way to put it is that epigenetic factors do not change our DNA sequence, but they can change how our body interprets an existing DNA sequence.
AP Biology Lied to You
What we learned as adolescents in biology class is not our reality. We were told everything we inherit comes from chromosomal DNA. This transmits physical traits, but it makes up less than 2% of our total DNA. Guess what they used to call the remaining 98%? JUNK DNA. I can still hear my AP Bio teacher using that term. Guess what? Not junk. Not junk at all. The remaining 98% is non-coding DNA, responsible for emotional, behavioral, personality and other traits we may inherit, and this genetic material is heavily influenced by external factors our parents endured up until we were born. So, effectively, it’s plausible that we inherit traits, behaviors, emotions, etc., that our parents adopted to cope with stressors, trauma and more, in their own lives. However, once we are out of the womb, the process begins all over again, where our day to day environment influences the expression of all inherited genes. That means that 98% of our genetic “inheritance” is mutable. You can break the cycle.
Less than 5% of disease-related genes are fully penetrant
When it comes to inherited diseases, less than 5% of all disease-related genes are fully penetrant. This means that an inherited disease will manifest with 100% probability less than 5% of the time. This is an incredibly empowering statistic. It means we are not destined to repeat the diseases of our parents. The remaining 95% of disease-related genes are influenced or activated by epigenetics, specifically through DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNA. Our genes are all constantly communicating with each other, as well as the outside world, to influence the function of various mechanisms of our bodies. So, just to reiterate from earlier, that means our environment, our social and familial interactions, the weather, what toxins we are exposed to, the diversity of our microbiome, our lifestyle choices, and so much more, are influencing 95% of disease-related genes. Everything we are exposed to on a day to day basis is like instructions for how our bodies should operate.
To quote Einstein…
Why is this so powerful? It means epigenetic changes are reversible. It means we have much more control over our bodies than we often realize. Einstein once said “We cannot solve our problems with the same degree of consciousness we had when we created them”. Likewise, we cannot heal in the same environment that made us sick. We cannot heal in the same mindset that made us sick.
What does it mean to me?
I am acknowledging that I have two parents who are trauma survivors. They needed to adopt certain behaviors, patterns of thinking, defense mechanisms, and ways of life, to survive. Mental health resources simply were not what they are today for any of our parents, so those mechanisms became their default mode. That’s what I inherited in a genetic sense, and what I was exposed to in an environmental sense in terms of the house I grew up in. In a way, you could say I was destined to inherit my mom’s PCOS because I didn’t break the cycle. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and I thought certain emotions, behavioral patterns, underlying thoughts, and more, were the norm. I thought they were acceptable. So now, I’m eager to break the cycle. I’m asking and answering difficult questions for myself, and I encourage you to do the same.
Note: Not Everything We Inherit Is Bad!
Sometimes our parents and grandparents have undergone very difficult circumstances that made them resilient and strong. In the same way that we may inherit a chronic stress response or emotional dysregulation, we may also inherit strength, ambition, tenacity, and more. Starting this thought exploration can be emotionally taxing, and your mind will likely jump to the negative. I challenge you to also consider the positives that you’d like to retain.
Questions You Can Ask Yourself to Get Started:
1. What behaviors did I inherit from my parents?
Nutritional choices and eating habits
Exercise habits
Sleep habits
Substance use behaviors
The way I communicate with others
The way I resolve conflict
Spiritual practices
Relationship habits
2. What emotions did I inherit from my parents?
How do I process emotions? Do I process them at all?
How do I interpret anger and fear?
What do negative emotions mean to me? What did they mean to my parents?
What does vulnerability mean to me? What did it mean to my parents?
What is my definition of love and what it looks like?
What do feelings mean in general to me?
Are there any emotions or feelings I am addicted to like stress or anxiety?
Am I addicted to feelings because they remind me of home?
3. What did I experience individually that may have influenced gene expression?
What experiences shaped me in a positive way? Why am I defining these traits as “positive”?
What experiences shaped me in a negative way? Why am I defining these traits as “negative”?
What combination of experiences shaped who I am today?
4. What do I want to preserve that I inherited or cultivated myself?
5. What of the above is no longer serving me that I need to release or rewire?
Remember this: we are not destined to inherit everything from our parents. It’s about changing your ecosystem, changing your mindset, and changing your habits. Just because you have PCOS, it doesn’t mean you will have a child with PCOS. Just because you have a mother or sister with PCOS, it doesn’t mean you will have PCOS.
Happy Healing!
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/epigenetics.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6935309/
https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Polygenic-Trait
“Noncoding DNA and the Teem Theory of Inheritance, Emotions and Innate Behavior”, Danny Vedramini
“Metahuman”, Deepak Chopra