Infants and children with CAH need to be followed closely by a specialist in pediatric endocrinology to prevent complications of the disease and to assure optimal growth and maturation. With regular medication, your child with CAH can lead a normal life. The life expectancy is normal. This means that the enzyme defect in CAH is inherited. Inherited disorders are passed from parents to children through genes contained in the egg and sperm which join to form the baby.
Genes come in twos with one gene inherited from the mother and one gene inherited from the father.
For each baby born of two parents carrying the CAH trait, the odds are one in four. If they want to know whether they carry the trait, there are both gene test and special hormone tests which may answer this question. It would be very unusual for a person with CAH to marry a person who has CAH or who even carries the trait. The chance of your child with CAH having a child with CAH is roughly one in 200. If your baby was born with abnormalities of the genitals you may wish to tell family and friends that your baby has a minor defect which will delay the doctors in being able to confirm the sex of the child for a few days.