Since my last post about the loss of our baby I have received some news. After the lab work, my doctor informed me that I have the MTHFR gene mutation (and no, that does not stand for motherf****er…it actually stands for Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase if you really wanted to know). My mutation is compound heterozygous (C677T and A1298C mutations are both present), the second most serious type. That basically means I inherited one mutated gene from my mother and a different mutated gene from my father.
What does this mean? Well, I’m definitely no expert, but basically this genetic mutation may inhibit my body from absorbing folate (folic acid, B9, B6, B12 vitamins, which are, of course, essential to a growing fetus). This site has a quick description of MTHFR related to pregnancy, if you’d like more information: http://www.pregnancy-info.net/mthfr.html
How did I have a perfectly healthy pregnancy and baby with Henry? That’s the main unanswered question now. No one can seem to explain to me why some pregnancies are just fine and why others cannot progress. It’s all very new science and I still have my doubts as to whether this definitely is the cause of my miscarriage, but the gene mutation is definitely there, so that’s all I have to go on now.
My ob/gyn told me to immediately begin taking 4 milligrams of folic acid per day (5 times what’s in the usual prenatal vitamin) and I’ve also added B vitamins to my daily vitamin regime.
What does this mean for us? Not much has changed. It was nice to possibly have some kind of answer and to have some way to take action to prevent future pregnancy loss. Other women with MTHFR I’ve talked with on forums have mixed results after taking the loads of folic acid and getting pregnant again. It just seems very uncertain and I guess that worries me. If I get pregnant again I know I will be on edge until the baby is born.
We’ve looked into adoption quite a bit. It’s discouraging. It’s so expensive and the wait is so long. We’re not sure if that’s the direction we should be going right now or not. All I know is Henry needs a sibling! And quick! 
And Leo needs more babies. He deserves more babies. Perhaps that’s not meant to be. Our life is a happy one and we try to focus on that and thank God for that.
Google the following doctors: Dr Neil Rawlins, Dr David Browstein and Dr Stephen Smith. My entire family has the same gene mutation that you have. The biggest contributor to this gene is vaccination and metals. We cannot have any metal in our bodies such as amalgam fillings, metal in bridge work or metal replacement to replace body parts. If you go to Dr Stephen smith website at http://www.nwhealtcare.net and type MTHFR in the search engine you will get much information to help you understand what this causes. You can email me and I will help you better understand. ewilliams05@charter.net
Please do not be discouraged, I’m homozygous for C677T, and so is my husband, so all of our children are also homzygous. We have 3 sons that are 25, 23, and 20 years old. We never knew we have the defect until we had testing 7 years ago. Our youngest was poisoned by the mercury and aluminum in vaccines because he is unable to methylate due to being homozygous. There is so much help avaiable. We all take Methyl Guard by Thorne and continue to search for help. We all have medical exemption from vacciens be asue they contain trace amounts of mercury and a lot of aluminum.
I have lots of links to lectures on my website mthfrsupport.com if you are interested. The website is fairly new and I have a long ways to go. I am compound heterozygous and have found that metanx with TMG and BH4 (essential for 1298′s) is doing really well.
Dr. Ben Lynch has a theory about one pregnancy being fine and the other not. It makes lots of sense. Your spouse can have MTHFR SNPs as well. I don’t know if you have ever come accross his website. MTHFR.net.
And folic acid should never be mistaken with folate. Folic (coal tar residue) can actually jam up the methylation pathway. Cyanocobalamin (cyanide phosphate 3′) can jam up the methylation pathway and deplete methylcobalmin and because the methylation pathway is jammed you then cannot dump the traces of cyanide easily. Since science has proven this, I then question foods fortified with synthetic b vitamins. I myself steer clear of those foods.
The only prenatal I know of that only has active methyl donor b vitamins is by thorne. Even Neevo has cyanocobalmin in it which can be particularly bad for 1298′s.
Hope I could help.
Thank you all for your information! I must admit, I’m a little overwhelmed after looking into all your resources last night. I was told folic acid (and I had looked into the difference between folate and folic acid) and baby aspirin were all I needed to take, but after reading up some sources say it is pointless to do those things, but suggest an entire list of supplements and medicines! I guess I’ll just have to keep reading up on it. Thank you again for the information.
You are welcome. The two ladies that posted above me are very informative. If it wasn’t for them, I would be six feet under. Make sure you are on something like Thorne’s methylguard and BH4 since you are 1298. I also have a page on facebook called MTHFR support. Lots of information on there and lots of people you can meet who were going thru the exact same thing you are but are now doing better and healing every day. Don’t give up.
Rachel, i don’t know anything about gene mutations but I don’t feel like this should be a cloud over you. I think God is way bigger than science and I think he is going to bless you. Keep praying and always enjoy what you’ve been given.
Am in a very similar situation to you. Have a perfectly healthy son (2 in April) and was recently diagnosed with MTHFR after one very early miscarriage. I have no symptoms. I’m a perfectly healthy individual no food issues, no blood clot issues, no weight issues. I haven’t had my son tested yet so I don’t know what he has or if he has anything.
So since this all appears to be genetic … then my mother probably has it. She had two miscarriages between me and my sister. But she had me (normal) my sister (normal) and my brother (normal). My father is also healthy with minor health issues that usually plague an almost 60 year old man.
I’m currently pregnant again (very early) and am terrified. I’m on the special folic acid but not on baby aspirin or anything like that. We did see a heartbeat at 6w2d so that was encouraging but I will not rest easy until the baby is safely in my arms.
I hope everything works out well for you. But another point … both your parents have a form of this mutation … and they were able to have you. And I don’t know your story but it would seem your existence should give you hope.
I don’t think this mutation is the whole story either. I think lots of things go wrong when cells combine and sometimes it just doesn’t go right. I’m so sorry for your loss.