IgA Nephropathy is not a hereditary disease, like cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s chorea. In certain families, there does appear to be a predisposition to develop the disease, suggesting a genetic component. But before you can develop IgA Nephropathy, there must be some kind of trigger. We just don’t know what that is.If you are worried about your children possibly developing IgA Nephropathy, make sure to have their urine tested as part of a routine physical exam. Urinary abnormalities are fairly common, so don’t assume the child has IgAN if a single test shows a problem. That’s just a signal that more thorough testing is necessary. Occasionally there are families with two or more cases of IgAN, but in our experience this has generally been sex-linked (e.g., mother-daughter, uncle-nephew).