PBC cannot be passed on like a cold or the flu. It is possible that you could pass on the genetic predisposition to your children, but not PBC itself. If you look at your family tree, you will often encounter other autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, type 1 diabetes, hypothyroidism, celiac disease, scleroderma and Sjögren's, to name a few. There is less than a 5 percent chance that your children would develop PBC.