Statistics

If only one of the parents is a carrier of the Tay-Sachs gene mutation then only two outcomes are possible. There is a 50% chance that no gene mutation is passed and the children are not carriers and a 50% chance the gene mutation is passed and the child is a carrier. A one-carrier family cannot have an affected child.

•      1 in every Ashkenazi Jews, Cajuns community of Louisiana, or French Canadians is a carrier
•      1 in every 50 Irish-Americans is a carrier
•      1 in every 250 people is a carrier