The Family Secret That Changed My Life Forever

April 23, 2023 – 5:13 pm

For the sake of this conversation, my name is Kimayah, and I am from Ginger Hill, Lucea. I had been there since I was 3 years old and I am 28 years old now and live in my own home. My parents have been my parents since I’ve known them, I do have 4 other siblings and we all grew together and for all intense and purposes, we’ve had a pretty typical childhood.

I know my aunts, uncles and so forth… When I say I had a pretty normal childhood. I did.

I met my current boyfriend off tinder 3 years ago but as we are getting more serious, we started talking family history, medications, sickness, allergies, you know things like that so we know what the potentials are if we have kids.

We went to the doctors together to run our tests and so forth and one of my doctor came back and told me that there is 70% chance that my kids may have Achondroplasia.

Just for context, Achondroplasia is a hereditary condition that results in dwarfism. It is the most common type of dwarfism, affecting around one in every 25,000 people. Achondroplasia is caused by a mutation in the FGFR3 gene, which regulates bone growth. Achondroplasia is characterized by short arms and legs, a big head, and a prominent forehead. They could also have other health issues like spinal stenosis, hydrocephalus, or hearing loss.

“Dr. Moreno, isn’t this a hereditary disease, what do you mean there is a 70% chance my kids could have this condition?” – I asked

Dr. Moreno said, “It’s quite simple, one or both of your parents are dwarfs or at least have it within their genes."

I took what she said with a grain of salt because my dad is 6ft 5 inches, my mom is 5ft 8 inches and my grandparents are around the same height and built respective to both my parents and of course, my siblings are average height.

I felt like the doctor didn’t know what she was talking about but I took the test results and left. The entire drive home, I am fully convinced my guardian angel was working overtime because my body was there but my mind wasn’t. I drove on highway 87 back home for 30 minutes lost in thought.

That entire night I was at home I couldn’t think of anything else but that, but why? It is almost as if someone was just told that they have cancer. Like what? How? Why?

I pulled myself to go look through my family albums again because I could have missed something right? I looked at my parents, my grandparents, aunts, cousins, not one of them were dwarfs or even were under 5ft so like what? And this is not to say I would hate my kids if they dwarfs… but out of no where? Nah. I couldn’t rap my head around it.

I called my parents on video call and updated them on the doctors visit and told them what the doctors had found and they froze. Not like faking it as people in my generation do when they don’t want to be on a call, I mean genuinely froze. Their face was pale and it was almost as if their soul had vacated the body (if the soul and the body were separate entities). I have never seen that reaction from any one in real life – much less my parents and it told the hairs at the back of my neck to stand up!

My parents dropped the call and 17 minutes later, my aunt called me and told me that whatever I do, I should not allow my parents to enter my home or come near me, she sounds so panicked and frightened. Something I’ve once again never experienced in my life.

Like a dumb girl from the movies, I asked, “what why?”

“Kimayah, leave the house now!!! Don’t ask questions just grab what you can and leave now!!!” – My aunt yelled so loud I am almost sure my eardrums were going to burst but something within me told me to follow her instructions as quickly as I could and I did.

I heard tires screeching as I left outside the house and it was my aunt looking as panicked as she sounded. “get in, right now. Come on, get in”

What the hell was happening?

My brain was not processing anything, I had no idea what was happening, where I was going or what the situation was.

There will be a Part 2 if you want a part 2 :)